Sonic Chronicles: Disclosure
by SonicKnuxMiku25096
Summary: This is the 4th book of my Sonic Chronicles series. Rachel and Knuckles are now happily married on Angel Island. But yet there are secrets about the island that Rachel still doesn't know about. She soon finds out that these secrets could mean life or death for her and the Guardian.
1. Chapter 1,2 and 3

Sonic Chronicles: Disclosure

Chapter One:

Knuckles groaned slightly as he rolled over in bed. He sat up and opened his eyes halfway. He rested back on his arms and looked over at Rachel, who was peacefully sleeping beside him. He smiled as he admired her beautiful face. It had only been a week since Rachel and Knuckles had gotten married, so neither of them was used to sleeping in the same bed yet. He looked out the window to his left and gazed at the sunrise. He was deep in thought about the events that had transpired over a week ago… He still couldn't get over the fact that Sonic had let him be Rachel's husband… Knuckles hadn't seen the blue hedgehog since that fateful day.

As his mind traveled back to that day, Rachel stirred slightly. She sighed as she opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbows. She saw Knuckles and smiled.

"Good morning, Knux," she greeted. Knuckles jumped slightly as he snapped out of his thoughts. He let out a deep breath and grinned back at her.

"Good morning Rachel." Knuckles leaned down and welcomed her with a passionate kiss. Rachel closed her droopy eyes again and wrapped her arms around the echidna. After a few seconds, they both sat up. Knuckles held Rachel close as he looked back out at the dawn. Rachel followed his eyes and stared in awe at the orange sun peaking over the edge of the island. As they watched the sun continue to slowly ascend in the sky, Knuckles thought about how perfect his life was now. It was almost too perfect…

Knuckles stared up into the clouds as they drifted by. He moved the small leaf in his mouth slightly. His arms folded behind his head and his legs crossed, he laid back beside the Master Emerald, his mind still uneasy. Ever since their wedding, Knuckles couldn't help but feel a little nervous all the time. He knew he had a bigger responsibility now that he had Rachel to protect, along with her enormous amount of chaos energy. He always felt like Finitevus was going to come back and take Rachel again, especially after he disappeared into thin air in the temple.

Rachel walked over to him and sat beside him. He smiled at her.

"Hey, honey," he said. Rachel gave him a small smile in return.

"Hey." She could tell that he wasn't quite himself. She felt it whenever they were close. He was worried about something… maybe even afraid. She placed a gentle hand on his knee.

"Knuckles, what's bothering you?" she asked. Knuckles looked at her absentmindedly.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Nothing's wrong." He continued to stare at the sky. Rachel looked at him with concern.

"Knux, you know you can't hide anything from me. Something's itching at you, and I know that, so please tell me what you've been thinking about.

After several moments of silence, Knuckles closed his eyes and sighed. He knew he couldn't keep it a secret forever. Rachel was a smart girl. There was no way she was going to let this go.

"Ok, Rachel, if you really wanna know…" He sat up, his body facing Rachel. He pushed her hair back behind her ears. He smiled again.

"I'm so glad we can be together forever now," he said. Rachel didn't drop her gaze from him.

"Knuckles…" she said seriously.

Knuckles sighed again and looked at his knees, the leaf twitching in his mouth.

"It's just that… We never did find Finitevus after I released you from the crystal. We have no idea where he is. He could pop out at any moment and come to take you again. And not only that, but there are so many other people who would want your kind of power. I can think of a group of people who would also want to take you not only for your chaos abilities, but because you're in love with me." He shuttered as he recalled the many unpleasant encounters with the people who were his natural enemy since birth. "There's just so many risks now of you getting hurt… I'm not sure that I feel like I can keep you safe." Rachel smiled sweetly.

"Knux, how many times do I have to tell you this before you understand? I can take care of myself too! Yes, there will be some situations where I will need your help, but when there are just minor problems, then I can handle it myself." She touched his shoulder lightly.

"I don't want you to feel the need to watch over me wherever I go. If I need you, I have a way of telling you right away, remember. She placed her hand over his white crest. Her eyes began to glow as Knuckles felt the warm aura of her chaos energy that was linked inside of him. He smiled.

"I know Rachel. I'm not saying that you're too weak to help yourself, but you know how I am. I'm paranoid." Rachel turned herself so that she was right next to the Guardian. She rested her head on his shoulder. Knuckles looked down at her admiringly. At first, he thought that the peace of the island was going to stay there forever. But he was sadly mistaken as the island began to tremble.

Chapter Two:

Rachel and Knuckles immediately got up with a start. Knuckles protectively put Rachel behind him and kept his arm reached out in front of her. He scanned the area for any immediate signs of what was causing the sudden earthquake. For a second, he couldn't figure out what it was. Then, as quickly as it had come, the tremors stopped. Rachel's heart thudded in her chest. Although the ground settled back to being calm, she knew that whatever had caused the stir wasn't gone yet. Although she was anxious and uncertain on the inside, she stayed calm and ready on the outside. Knuckles stayed stone still. He was almost certain of what had caused it. Then, in a flash, the island dangerously shook again, only this time, the shakes were more violent. Rachel found it difficult to stand. She couldn't find a way to keep her balance. Knuckles looked around again, noticing tanks peering over the trees. His eyes locked on the danger, Knuckles was positive of who it was now. His body tensed as he kept himself firmly in front of Rachel. As they tanks came nearer and nearer and slowly began to emerge through the forest, Knuckles took a deep breath, letting the chaos energy course through his veins. He turned towards Rachel. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

He sent her a message through her mind. _It's not safe here. You need to go and find some place safe to hide. I'll come and find you once I've taken care of this. Trust me, you don't want to face these people. _Rachel opened her mouth to protest, but Knuckles' hands started to glow green as he started to send Rachel away. Her body started to disappear until she was completely gone. He sighed.

"I'll come back for you later Rachel," he said, "I promise." He turned back to the oncoming tanks as they rolled closer and closer to the shrine.

Rachel felt herself beginning to evaporate. She tried to scream out to Knuckles to tell him to stop, but it was no use. She woke up and found herself lying on the ground somewhere in the forest. She grunted as she sat up and looked around. She felt herself filling with a mixture of frustration and worry.

"KNUCKLES!" she screamed as loud as she could. No one answered as her voice echoed among the trees. She stumbled onto her feet and started running as fast as she could. The loose leaves and branches crunched under her tan boots as she kicked up dirt behind her. She started to breath heavier the farther and farther out she got. Her mind raced with suspicious thoughts. _Who was in those strange tanks? Why was Knuckles so sure that Rachel was doomed if she faced them? Why wouldn't he let her fight alongside him? _Her mind wandered to thoughts about Knuckles being all alone as he fought off those huge machines. She shook her head furiously when her eyes started to burn.

_Don't think about that now. Just try and get back to him. _If only she could teleport back… Since Knuckles controlled most of the chaos energy that was inside of her, she didn't have enough to teleport.

Then, without warning a fire ball shot through the trees. Rachel barely noticed in time to lean back and avoid it. She stopped dead in her tracks as a huge explosion erupted behind her. She let out a gasp as yet another fire ball came whizzing right for her.

Chapter Three:

Knuckles felt his muscles tighten and his teeth grit. He ran forward towards one of the rolling tanks. He released some of the chaos into his fists to as he pulled his right one back. The tanks' guns slowly began to lower and target themselves straight at Knuckles. He jumped up with all of his might and punched the main body of the tank as hard as he could. It immediately crushed inward under his powerful fist. He kept punching away at it until it completely collapsed. When, the guns dropped and exploded in on themselves, Knuckles moved on to the next tank. After what felt like dozens of tanks later, they were all finally gone. Knuckles let his fists go back to normal as he let out a sigh of relief.

_Man, that was tiring. But it was almost too easy… _He looked around, realizing that there was no way the threat was over. Deep in the forest, he saw smoke rising up high above the trees. He squinted at it, not entirely sure if it was real or not. But when he saw it billow as it rose higher and higher into the sky, he realized that it was real. Then, just below the smoke, fire began to show itself too along the tree tops. Heart pounding and palms sweating, Knuckles sprinted as fast as he could towards the source of the flames.

Rachel stopped the fireball just short of her face with a force field. With barely any effort at all, she turned it around and sent it right back to where it came from. She saw it go zooming at lightning speed right back to its owner. 1… 2… 3… 4… A huge explosion suddenly occurred. Rachel grinned with pride. Since she had been practicing with Knuckles for the past week, she had honed in on her chaos abilities. It was a lot easier for her to do several of the basic stuff that was hard for her to do before. She inhaled deeply and slowly faded into the background like a chameleon. (This was one of her favorite abilities.) She quickly walked towards the destination of the fireball to find out who had been shooting them at her, a wildfire slowly beginning to spread behind her. She walked past tree after tree until she finally started to hear faint voices become progressively louder. She came into a large clearing and saw another tank, but this one had a flamethrower on it. Next to it laid the remains of the other tank that Rachel had destroyed. Rachel looked up to the tank that was still intact.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?!" a female echidna yelled from the ground. She had on a black army suit with combat boots and a belt.

"I'm sorry, Kommissar, but there was nothing on the radar that showed something powerful enough to send the fire back." The female echidna stomped her foot and growled impatiently. She drew out a whip from her belt.

"If you don't find out what sent those flames back, I'll-…"

"Calm down, granddaughter," a male robot voice said. Rachel looked over and winced as she saw something very unusual and almost frightening. Rachel had to clasp her hand over her mouth to stop herself from gasping. A robot echidna head came into view as it walked on its tendrils.

"Surely there must have been some sort of force that our radar couldn't detect." All around them, male echidnas with black robes on were whispering to each other, a slight hint of panic in their hushed voices. Each of them had a laser gun in their hands. Rachel looked at the scene in confusion.

_I thought Knuckles said that all of the echidnas were hiding in the ruins of Albion… _The female echidna huffed and crossed her arms. She turned her head away from the robot echidna in fury. As Rachel started to try and think of an explanation for what was going on, she felt a spark lick one of her legs. She felt searing pain start to rise up her body as more and more sparks from the growing fire hit her body. She clenched her teeth together to try not to scream, but the pain was too much. She let out a bloodcurdling scream and scrambled away from the forest, her invisibility gone. All of the echidnas stared at her in shock. She was curled up slightly in a ball on her side as she laid on the ground. Small burns had grown on the back of her arms and legs. She let out a small whimper of shock and fear. The female echidna grinned wickedly.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" She walked over to Rachel and placed one of her boots on Rachel's arm. Rachel screamed again in agony as she felt her bones crunching together. A few tears streamed out of her eyes as she sobbed. The echidna took out her whip again.

"Perhaps you're the one that sent us back our little present." As she put up her arm to crack the whip, Knuckles yelled, "LET HER GO, LIEN-DA!"


	2. Chapter 4, 5 and 6

Chapter Four:

Lien-Da snapped her head towards the forest edge. Knuckles stood there glaring at her. She smiled cruelly.

"So, you finally show up, Guardian. It's about time I got you to crawl out of your hiding place!"

Rachel looked up at Knuckles helplessly. He looked over at her in worry. Lien-Da narrowed her eyes at him and glanced from Knuckles, to Rachel, then back to Knuckles. She let out a small laugh.

"Aw, what's this? Does the oh-so-strong and determined Guardian have a weak spot for this troublesome human?"

Knuckles didn't respond. This is exactly what he didn't want to happen… He glared at her again. She shrugged.

"Well, I guess if she doesn't mean that much to you…" Then, without warning, she cracked her whip right onto Rachel's back, leaving a large red cut. Rachel screamed out in pain as the sharp pain gradually grew. Lien-Da cracked the whip a couple more times, each lash leaving Rachel with more and more agony.

Knuckles felt his heart stop. His throat felt clogged as his mind tried to clear.

When he finally snapped out of his daze, he yelled, "RACHEL!" He bolted straight for Lien-Da as she started to draw the whip back once more. Her head snapped towards him. She took her foot off of Rachel's arm and braced herself. But the soldiers were already prepared. They had their guns at the ready, but Knuckles didn't give them a chance to shoot. He gave them each a quick punch to the face, all of them falling one by one. After about ten soldiers were down, Knuckles finally reached Lien-Da. She gritted her teeth and got ready for a fight, but the robot echidna stepped in front of her.

"I don't think violence will be necessary at this point, don't you agree Guardian?"

Lien-Da looked at him in shock. "What are you trying to-…"

Knuckles scowled at him. "Dmitri. I should've guessed you'd be here with her."

Dmitri gave him a small but cruel smile. "Indeed. I figured that you would come out once your precious emerald was in danger. So a small portion of our army was all I needed for this small task."

"But if you don't want to fight me, then why are you here?" Knuckles asked impatiently.

"To see if you were still alive. After seeing the events that recently transpired here, we figured that once you disappeared, you were long gone. But I can tell now that we were… mistaken." He glanced over at the wildfire that was beginning to almost completely engulf the forest. "We don't want any trouble. We just wanted to make sure that you hadn't gone for good." He looked back at Knuckles. "You may take this girl with you if you wish. We won't hold her captive."

"WHAT?!" Lien-Da stepped forward, opening her mouth to protest more, but Dmitri spoke again.

"We have no reason to harm innocent people. And this is your island. Go about as you wish, great-grand nephew."

Lien-Da shook with fury. "How can you let him just get away?! He's right where we want him, now we can take over this island! Why can't you see that this is the perfect opportunity to-…"

"Hush now, dear granddaughter. As I said before, we don't want any trouble."

But Lien-Da drew her whip again. "I won't let you allow him to escape again."

But Knuckles was already at Rachel's side. Tears were streaming down her eyes with a mixture of pain and confusion. Knuckles held her close to him, being careful not to move her too much.

"It's ok now, Rachel," he whispered, "We'll be home shortly." Lien-Da lunged towards him just as he started to teleport away. She skidded to a stop as him and Rachel faded away. She growled and threw her whip onto the ground.

"BLAST IT ALL!" she yelled to the sky.

Chapter Five:

"How could you let this happen?!" Lien-Da furiously yelled at her ancestor. He looked at her indifferently. The soldiers had woken up and were working on putting out the forest fire.

"How many times must we go over this? You can't win a war by simply taking out the enemy every time you see them. You keep your friends close and your enemies closer. We need him alive."

Lien-Da balled her hands into fists. "I'm sick and tired of you just keeping all of your stupid plans to yourself! You've already become Grandmaster of the Legion twice after Kragok died, why can't you at least tell me what you're up to now?!"

"Patience, Lien-Da. I'll let you in on my plan in short time. For now, just make sure that this fire gets put out." He started to walk away from the temporary camp on his tendrils.

"And what about the Guardian and the girl?"

Dmitri stopped and thought for a moment. "Leave them be for now. We shall deal with them more later." And with that, he continued walking.

"Hmph." Lien-Da turned her back to him and crossed her arms angrily. "I can't believe I still have to put up with you. You should've been dead at _least _a hundred years ago! But now, you're the _Grandmaster,_" she mocked, "a position I was born to!" She scowled at the sky. "I'll get you yet, Dmitri. And then I'll finally have what's rightfully mine."

Knuckles soaked the rag with steaming hot water. He filled a bucket with the same water and carefully brought it to the bedroom. Rachel was sitting up on the edge of the bed, cringing slightly with pain whenever she moved. At first, Knuckles had told her to lie down, but when Rachel looked at him with a, _does it look I can _look, then he told her to stay sitting. He sat down behind her and held the rag firmly in his hand.

"You should probably take your shirt off," he said.

"What?!" Rachel looked back at him in surprise, completely caught off-guard as she had been concentrating so hard on what had happened.

Knuckles gave her a small smile. "I'm not trying to be perverted. I just thought it would be easier to get to the cuts."

"O-ok…" Rachel gingerly began to pull off her white cami, wincing every time the fabric accidentally touched her wounds. When it was all the way off, she placed it beside her. She looked down at the floor. "Ok, I'm ready." She felt her face burning as it turned a light shade of red. She automatically took one of the bed sheets and covered her front side. She hated being exposed to people like that, even if it was her own husband.

Knuckles didn't pay any attention to the fact that she was half naked. Instead, he immediately started to place the rag on the cuts. Rachel clenched her teeth together, trying to forget about the pain and focus on something else. She squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could. As Knuckles started to rub the hot cloth onto the deeper parts of her injuries, Rachel couldn't bear it anymore. She let out a short scream of pain. Knuckles' hand immediately retreated from her back.

"Rachel? Are you ok?" he asked hurriedly. Rachel took a few deep breaths and shook her head.

"No, not really."

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's ok. Do whatever you have to."

"I just don't want you to get infected or anything. Anyways, I should be done shortly." He continued to rub the open skin, trying to be as gentle as possible. He didn't want to hurt Rachel any more than he had to. Rachel squeezed the bed sheet harder, trying not to move. Every once in a while, she would cringe slightly, but after a short while, the pain didn't seem as bad to her. Knuckles dunked the rag in the water a few times to ensure that it remained hot. She relaxed herself as Knuckles was cleaning the last scrape. Once he was done, he slowly removed the rag from her skin.

"All done now." Rachel sighed, feeling relief settle in. Knuckles set the rag and bucket down on the floor. He turned back to Rachel's wounds.

"Ok, now this part should be less painful."

Rachel smiled, still feeling slightly embarrassed as she continued to stare at the floor. "What do you mean 'it SHOULD?'"

Knuckles laughed. "I mean that I think the worst part is over, but I can't be sure. Now hold as still as you can for just a minute." He hovered his hands only a centimeter way from her back. He closed his eyes as green chaos energy emitted from his palms. He concentrated as hard as he could. Then, ever so slowly, the cuts began to recede until they looked like mere paper cuts. Knuckles lowered his hands and opened his eyes.

"Ok, you can turn around now. It shouldn't hurt."

Rachel tenderly started to turn herself around. When she realized that she felt no pain, she looked at Knuckles in shock.

"What did you do?" she asked in wonder.

"I reduced the size of your cuts and made them pretty much disappear."

Rachel stared at him in awe. "Really? I didn't feel anything…" Then, she thought about it for a moment. She puffed her cheeks out angrily.

"Hey, why didn't you just do that in the first place instead of making me suffer so much?"

Knuckles couldn't help but grin at her. She looked so cute like that. "I had to make sure you didn't get any infections before I did that. Otherwise, you could've gotten sick and then it would've been harder to heal you."

"Oh..." Rachel clutched the bed sheet, which was still firmly covering her. She looked down at her torn shirt. "I guess I won't be wearing that shirt again…"

"It's ok. You have like a million white camis. That's all you ever wear," Knuckles joked, "Besides, you don't have to get dressed right now."

"Oh, ha ha, very funny. You wanna see me naked, don't you?"

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, her face right in front of his. He smiled semi-deviously. "Sort of, but for a different reason."

Rachel blushed an even darker shade of red. "You wanna… I mean… Right now…?"

Before Knuckles answered, his lips met hers softly. Rachel felt herself loosen under his touch. He gently pushed her down onto the bed, continuing to kiss her. After a few seconds, he gently raised himself above her with his arms. He grinned.

"To answer your question, yes. You aren't in pain, are you?"

"No, I'm not, but…I mean… Why right now…?"

"Why not? You're already half-naked, so we might as well do it now. Unless you're not ready…"

"It's not that I'm not ready, it's just that... You still have a lot of explaining to do," she said crossly.

Knuckles felt a little bit guilty, but he didn't let it break his mood. "Later," he replied. His eyes closed halfway as he licked his lips lustfully. "Right now, I just wanna focus on you."

Rachel sighed, knowing that she couldn't win. She wasn't exactly sure if she was ready for it… But she decided to let all of her worries go and let Knuckles do what he wanted. "Ok, Knuckles, do it if you want to."

Knuckles took the opportunity before she could change her mind. He lowered himself on top of her. He realized that Rachel's hands were still clutching onto the bed sheet. He smiled as he rose himself up just enough to put his hands on top of Rachel's. He started to loosen her fingers one by one. Rachel groaned slightly in protest.

"Come on, Rachel, if you wanna do this, you have to let me in," he teased.

Rachel sighed. "Oh, ok."

As Knuckles slipped the bed sheet off of her, she felt her nerves rise. Knuckles fell back on top of her and started to kiss her more intensely. Rachel wrapped her arms around him and moaned with pleasure as they began…

Chapter Six:

"Knuckles…" Rachel and Knuckles were under the bed sheets together, all of their clothes thrown onto the floor. Knuckles took his lips away from her slowly. He was taking quick breaths. He smiled at her.

"Y-you all right?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," Rachel replied, her breaths short and fast too, "It's just that I've never felt so good in my life… I've never done it before…"

"Neither have I…" They both took a quick-breather, and then joined their mouths again. They both could still feel the heat of the moment. After a minute, Knuckles used all of his willpower to break the kiss and lay down beside Rachel. He felt his heart pounding. Rachel turned towards Knuckles, the bed sheet wrapped around her. She rested her head on his chest. They felt each other's lungs and hearts heaving with thrill from the aftermath.

"That was amazing…" she breathed. Knuckles nodded, unable to utter a word. After they gathered their shuffled thoughts together, Knuckles took a deep breath and spoke.

"I'm glad we did it," he said, smiling down at Rachel. Rachel smiled back up at him and nodded.

"So am I. But now that we finally got that done, I want you to start explaining everything to me."

Knuckles groaned. "Come on, Rachel… We just felt pleasure beyond imagination, and right now you want me to explain that whole thing that happened today?"

Rachel nodded. "Knux, if there's something I have to look out for, you need to tell me."

Knuckles sighed, knowing that Rachel was right. He began explaining the whole story about the feud between two families: The Dark Legion and the Guardians. He told her about how it started and how the two families had different ways of seeing things. He told her that the feud still wasn't resolved, even after four hundred years. (I would explain this story in more detail, but it is a long, LONG story.) At the end of the story, the couple fell silent. Rachel looked at his chest in thought. After several long moments of silence, she finally spoke.

"So that's who those people were… The Dark Legion…" She paused for a moment. "So there are more echidnas then you said there were…"

"I'm sorry, Rachel. I didn't mean to lie to you. I just didn't want them to find out about you. With your kind of chaos power, they would snatch you away in a heartbeat."

"But they already did see me Knuckles, remember? That woman, Lien-Da or whatever saw me, along with that small portion of the army. Won't they know about me by now?"

"Just because they saw you doesn't mean they know about your chaos abilities. As a matter of fact, they think that you're just a normal human being." He stopped for a moment. He suddenly sighed with frustration. "Although they already do know that I care about you, and that might be reason enough for them to take you." He looked down at their clothes that were flung off of each other in such a rush of adrenaline. He let out a small laugh.

"I guess we should get dressed now that we're done…" he said. Rachel sensed the disappointment in his voice. She kissed him again sweetly.

"It's ok, sweetie. We're married, remember? We can do this again whenever we want."

Knuckles smiled at her and nodded. He carefully got out from under the bed sheets and picked up one of his socks and shoes. He sat on the side of the bed and slipped them on. He picked up the other one and slipped it on too.

"I'm thinking about going to Albion…" he said absentmindedly.

Rachel slowly sat up and looked at him curiously. "Really? Why?"

Knuckles was starting to slip his gloves on. "I want to check in on the echidnas there, you know, just to make sure that nothing's happened to them." He looked down at the floor determinedly. "Besides, I haven't faced my mother since my second time as Enerjak…"

Rachel scooted over to him and wrapped her arms around his stomach. She planted a loving kiss on his cheek.

"I'll come with you," she said.

Knuckles looked back at her in shock. "Really?"

Rachel smiled and nodded. "Sure. I don't want you going there alone. Besides, you might have a hard time telling your mom about how you're married without your wife there, right?"

Knuckles smiled back at her and placed his hand on her hands. "Thanks, sweetheart."

Lien-Da searched through all of the computer files, unable to find anything that she was looking for.

"Blast it, why isn't she in here?!" she yelled angrily. Dmitri emerged through the sliding doors in the lab.

"What are you complaining about now?"

"Hmph, don't get so indignant with me! Your stupid computer files have nothing about that human girl in them!"

Dmitri sighed and rolled his robotic eyes to the ceiling with annoyance. "That's because I hadn't seen that girl until yesterday. It's not like I got a chance to take a blood sample or some sort of elaborate test."

"That why I told you that we should've taken that girl while she was under my boot. Literally!" Lien-Da protested, "We need her data if we're going to hit the Guardian where it hurts!"

"We don't need that girl to get to the Guardian."

"But did you not see the wedding band on her finger? And the way that he was so concerned about her? And how he knew her name? Don't you get it? They're MARRIED!"

"Just because Knuckles shares a bond with this human girl doesn't mean we need to take advantage of her."

"You're a scientist for Aurora's sake!" Lien-Da yelled back stomping her foot, "Why can't you at least get some of her DNA that we can use as leverage in case the Guardian decides to attack us!?"

"You are so impatient, Lien-Da," Dmitri replied, tired of his great-granddaughters outbursts, "I already told you, she will be of use to us eventually, just not now." He turned around to start to exit. As he walked out, he said, "For now, just try and keep a level head, and don't cause us any more trouble."

Lien-Da glared at him behind his back as he left through the sliding doors again. She looked back at the computer screen with determination. "We'll see about that…"


	3. Chapter 7, 8 and 9

Chapter Seven:

Knuckles and Rachel decided to rest for the night and then prepare for the trip to Albion in the morning. When the sun rose up and its light streamed through the window, Knuckles shook Rachel's shoulder gently. She slowly opened one of her eyes and turned her head to the left. Knuckles smiled down at her.

"Time to get up, Rach."

Rachel sat up and stretched her arms out. She rubbed her eyes and watched Knuckles move over to the closet. He slipped on his gloves and shoes as Rachel started to rise out of bed as well. Then, out of nowhere, Rachel felt her head starting to spin. She stopped and put a hand on her head, her legs wobbling. Knuckles noticed her sudden dizziness and rushed over to hold her steady.

"It's ok, Rachel," he said soothingly, "I've got you." Rachel looked up at him, her eyes foggy. She tried to break out a smile.

"I'm fine, Knux," she said, trying to be assuring, "Really, I'm ok."

Nevertheless, Knuckles sat her back down on the bed. He felt her forehead and found that it was burning hot.

"Maybe you shouldn't come with me…" he said worriedly, "I think you have a fever."

"It's ok, Knuckles. I just got up too fast, and I was really warm last night. Really, there's nothing to be worried about."

Knuckles looked at her skeptically, but decided that he didn't want to get into an argument over it. Rachel stood back up and meandered towards the closet. She carefully took out one of her white camis and shorts. At first, she thought about going to the bathroom and changing like she normally did, but this time she decided against it. She changed from her black t-shirt and flannel pants. Knuckles noticed this and smiled.

"So, are you finally less self-conscious about yourself around your own husband?" Rachel only responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

Afterwards, her and Knuckles went into the kitchen and ate a quick breakfast. Then, they went outside to the edge of the island to head towards the ruins of Albion. Knuckles pulled out a warp ring he had kept from their last unpleasant encounter with Dr. Finitevus. He turned towards Rachel.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "Let's go." And with that, Knuckles flipped the ring into the air and let it open up to show what was left of Albion on the other side.

Rachel and Knuckles both stepped through the ring, leaving Angel Island to enter the ruins of a once great city. They noticed the houses that the refugees had made. Knuckles took Rachel's hand and started to lead her towards the small village. Rachel looked around and occasionally saw an echidna or two roaming about. Whenever one of them saw Rachel, they stared at her in confusion and whispered to one another. Rachel suddenly felt nervous and held Knuckles' hand tighter, keeping her head low as they continued on. Knuckles examined each of the houses, trying to find his mother as quickly as possible. He knew that he wasn't exactly popular among the echidnas when they learned that he had been the one who had sent them there in the first place. He became more and more anxious as he passed house after house with no sign of his mother. Had something happened to her? Maybe she was…

"Knuckles?!" Knuckles whirled around as he heard a familiar voice somewhere nearby. Before he knew what was happening, Lara-Le was hugging him as tight as she could. Tears were running down her face.

"Knuckles… I thought I'd never see you again…" she cried. Knuckles stood there in utter disbelief. He knew that his mother had probably missed him, but he didn't expect their meeting to be like this…

He let go of Rachel's hand and hugged his mother back. He felt his eyes burning.

"Mom…"

Rachel watched the scene, feeling happiness for both of them. After several long moments, Lara-Le let go of her son.

"I thought you had gone for good after what happened with Enerjak…" she breathed.

Knuckles nodded. "I'm sorry Mom. I just thought I'd never have the courage to face you again after what I did."

She hugged him again. "I'm just glad to see you're all right. For awhile, I thought you might be…" She choked, unable to say the words.

Knuckles patted her back lightly. "It's ok Mom. I'm back now. Everything's ok now…"

Lara-Le led Rachel and Knuckles back to her house. She introduced Rachel to her husband, Wynmacher, and to her youngest son, Knecapeon. When the little echidna saw his older brother again, he shook his rattle excitedly.

"Na na! Na na!" he said joyfully. Knuckles smiled and tickled his step-brother playfully.

"Hey, Kneecaps." It had felt like forever since Knuckles had seen his little step-brother. He felt bad about not being there for him or the rest of his family.

Lara-Le invited Rachel and Knuckles to sit down in the living room. Rachel played with Kneecaps in his swinging chair as Knuckles started to tell his mother about everything that had happened. He told her about his crazy adventure starting from when he was teleported to Earth. He told her about how he had met Rachel and had come back with him and Sonic to Mobius. Then, he told her about how had been held captive by Fiery while Sonic, Rachel and Thunder had to go and search for the seven Chaos Emeralds. Lara-Le hadn't spoken a word yet, and didn't dare to start to speak as he told her about his most recent encounter with Finitevus. Finally, he ended the story with how he and Rachel had gotten married just over a week before. Lara-Le waited for her son to finish completely and then finally spoke.

"Wow… I guess you have more than one reason for not coming here sooner." She looked at Rachel and smiled.

"And I also want to say congratulations to you both."

Rachel smiled back at her. "Thank you."

Lara-Le sighed. She looked down at the floor. She smiled, but her eyes were full of sorrow. "You've grown up so much since I last saw you. I can hardly believe you're the same age." She shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm really sorry, Mom. I just wasn't sure that I was welcome back here after what I did…"

Lara-Le shook her head again and went over to her son. She placed her hands on his shoulders firmly. "What happened that day was not your fault. Enerjak did those awful things, not you."

"But I was the one who was-…"

"That monster was not you," she said sternly.

Knuckles looked into her eyes and saw how serious she was. Did she actually think that? Did she think it wasn't his fault? He felt relief fill his heart as he realized that his worst fears weren't real. A single tear of joy escaped his eye.

"Thanks Mom," he whispered.

Lara-Le kissed him on the forehead. She hugged him again. "I will always love you, Knuckles. No matter what."

Rachel smiled at them. She heard Kneecaps giggle next to her. She felt his rattle softly hit her arm. She turned towards the echidna baby. He smiled cutely at her, his arms waving with excitement. She smiled at him and started to tickle him playfully again. Then, out of nowhere, Rachel felt a strange sickness in her stomach. She clutched her stomach. She let out a small groan. Lara-Le let go of her son and looked back at Rachel. Knuckles looked at her too.

"Rachel?" he asked worriedly.

Rachel looked at him with slight pain in her eyes, but she tried to crack out a smile.

"I'm fine. Really, I'm…" She groaned again and curled into a semi-ball. Knuckles knelt down beside her.

"Just take deep breaths, Rachel." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

Lara-Le turned towards Wynmacher, who was standing in the kitchen. "Wyn, can you please get her some water?"

"Of course." He went to the sink and filled up a glass with water. He brought it over to her. She handed Rachel the glass. Rachel drank the water slowly, but didn't feel any better. She handed it back to Lara-Le and thanked her nonetheless. Then, after a minute or so, the sickness subsided. Rachel took one last deep breath.

"You ok now?" Knuckles asked. Rachel slowly nodded.

"Yes. I'm fine." Knuckles turned back to Lara-Le.

"It's pretty amazing how well you guys and the rest of the echidnas here are doing. I mean, you have plumbing, glasses, and a lot of other stuff that you can't usually get in the ruins of a city."

"We've had time to build the stuff we need," she replied with a smile.

"I guess I'm not the only one that's changed a lot," he sighed.

After she told Knuckles and Rachel about the things that had happened there, Knuckles said that he and Rachel should probably take off. Lara-Le frowned at this.

"Oh… Well, ok…" she said sadly.

Knuckles hugged her one last time. "Don't worry. I'll try to visit you guys more often." He walked over to his baby brother.

"I'll see you later too," he said, tickling Kneecaps on the stomach. He giggled happily.

"Take care," Knuckles said as he left the house. Lara-Le and Wynmacher smiled and waved goodbye, while Kneecaps shook his rattle and said, "Bye bye," innocently.

Chapter Eight:

Dmitri was growing extremely irritated. He was yet again having to listen to his great-granddaughters complaints about how he ran the Legion. To him, it was just annoying background noise. They were the same thing as usual, basically.

"The Guardian has left the island! Why can't we just go and take the Master Emerald and take the rest of this island with it?!"

"Do I honestly have to explain myself again? I'm not going to try and create a war that could potentially tear this island apart! Besides, there is no need for us to control the entire island. We already have everything we need to keep our people alive."

Lien-Da shook with fury as she opened her mouth to argue more, but Dmitri stopped her. "Your goals are greedy and misguided. They will only cause our people to self-destruct. We don't need the island and we don't need the emerald. Now, I don't want to hear another word from you for at least the rest of the day." He left the control center with nothing but frustration. Why couldn't she understand? The last thing the Dark Legion needed was to have to take care of Angel Island. That would only cause them to break apart. He walked all the way to his laboratory where he flipped through the computer files to see what Lien-Da had done to them.

"THAT… DOES… IT!" Lien-Da screamed at the top of her lungs. All of the soldiers in the control room stared at her in fear. She slammed her fist on one of the panels.

"I've had it with that overly controlling ancestor! It's like his only purpose for still living is to make my life miserable!" She kicked a chair to the side.

"First, I was cheated by my brother after I killed father… Then, I was cheated by Dmitri after he took the role of Grandmaster when my spineless brother gave it away! Then, when Kragok finally dies, I _still _wasn't given the position! And after all of that, when Dmitri left to go and help Dr. Finitevus re-create Enerjak, I thought I had it! It thought that I would be allowed to finally get the power I was born to… BUT NO! He comes back and declares that he's already assumed the position!" She took a deep breath, her mind racing with ideas of how to finally get what she deserved.

"I'll take this island myself if I have to… But first, I need some bait…"

She drew out her whip and marched out of the control room, leaving the soldiers to stare after her in shock.

Dmitri saw his granddaughter leave the base in a huff. He watched her until she was almost completely out of sight. Then, he turned back to the computer and pulled up the camera of the control room. He pushed on the speaker button.

"All of you, go to the outer rim of the island! Whatever you do, don't let Lien-Da touch the Master Emerald!" he ordered. The soldiers immediately jumped from their seats and headed for the outside. Dmitri followed them out, hoping that he could stop his greedy granddaughter.

Chapter Nine:

Rachel and Knuckles were back in their home, and the sun was already beginning to set. Rachel sat down on the couch in their living room, feeling unusually exhausted. Knuckles noticed her sudden tiredness and sat down beside her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and brought her closer to him. She rested her head on his chest, her eyes drooping. Knuckles smiled at her.

"Going to bed before dinner, huh?" he teased.

Rachel closed her eyes. "Yes."

The Guardian kissed her forehead and picked her up gently. He brought her into the bedroom and pulled the sheets back. He laid her down and pulled the sheets back over her weary body. She didn't even care that she was still in her day clothes. All she cared about was getting some rest. Within a few moments, Rachel was sound asleep. Knuckles laughed softly to himself, then went to the kitchen. He took out a bowl of grapes and laid down on the couch. He took out a grape, placed it on top of his thumb, and flipped it up into the air. Knuckles caught it in his mouth as it fell back down. He crossed his legs as he continued to flip grapes into his mouth. His thoughts wandered to many different places as he ate. He wondered what the Dark Legion would do next… Surely Dmitri wouldn't attack him. He had learned that in the past, Dmitri had actually tried to create peace between the two families. The person he was really worried about was Lien-Da. Knowing her, she would definitely try and get to him. She would definitely go for Rachel now that she knew of their connection… He had to protect her, no matter what. If Lien-Da took her, not only would she find out about her chaos powers, but she would also find out about the large portion of the chaos energy that had been given to Knuckles. His mind tried to come up with every possible thing that could happen as he rolled a grape around in his hand.

Rachel moaned as she woke up. She looked over at the digital clock on the side table. 2:37 a.m. Rachel moaned again as she rolled over to try and fall back asleep. She saw Knuckles sleeping beside her, his back facing her. She felt a slight pain in her hip. She remembered that she was still wearing her jean shorts and went over to the closet. She picked out a lavender night gown and changed into it. She carefully sat back down on the bed. Soon, she felt her stomach lurch and her head heating up. She held it in dismay.

_Maybe Knuckles is right… Maybe I do have a fever… _She tried to lie back down and fall asleep, but she still felt awful. She scooted closer to Knuckles and wrapped her arms around his hips, trying to forget about the sickness in her stomach. Knuckles felt her soft hands around his stomach. He opened his eyes halfway and looked back at her, still staying on his side.

"You ok?" he asked sleepily. Even with only the moon as a light source, Knuckles could see how pale Rachel was. She shook her head.

"I feel terrible…"

Knuckles rolled over and faced her. He sat up and felt her forehead and cheeks.

"You're burning up…" he said worriedly. Rachel stayed lying down, trying to get rid of that turning feeling in her stomach.

"Maybe… Maybe if I take some…" Before she could finish her sentence, her stomach suddenly felt like it was pushing up into her throat. She got up with a start and covered her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Rachel…?" Knuckles placed a hand on her shoulder, but Rachel bolted into the bathroom and knelt down in front of the toilet. Knuckles felt his own stomach turn as he listened to Rachel throwing up. He got out of the bed and ran over to the bathroom. He knelt down beside her and rubbed her back.

"It's ok, Rachel. Just let it out." She felt panicked, and he could tell. She was crying as she continued to get sick. After half a minute, she finally let it all out. She raised her head from the toilet and coughed, tears dripping from her eyes. Knuckles flushed it for her and went back to the bed. He took her blanket and pillow off of it. He carried them to the bathroom and told Rachel to lie down. He held her head as she lowered it onto the pillow. She felt the blanket fall down on her body. She continued to sob, but she felt less sick.

"Shhh, Rachel, calm down. It's ok. Just lay here in case you get sick again." He rubbed her shoulder as the rolled over onto her left side.

Knuckles stayed with her for a half an hour. Then, when Rachel no longer felt sick, he carefully wrapped the blanket around her and carried her back to bed. He put the pillow back on the bed and placed her head back on it. He laid down on the other side of her and hugged her from behind. They both slowly drifted back to sleep, but Rachel's thoughts were uneasy.

The next morning, Rachel got up earlier than Knuckles. The night before felt like a foggy memory to her. She no longer felt the sickness, but she was worried about something else. She looked over at Knuckles to make sure that he was still asleep. He rolled over away from her, murmuring in his sleep. Rachel carefully tip-toed into the bathroom and slowly closed and locked the door. She searched the shelves that were placed beside the mirror. Her eyes finally caught what she was looking for.

She took the box off of the shelf. _I have to know… _Her hands shaking, she read the directions.

Rachel paced the bathroom floor, occasionally tapping her foot. This was the longest 90 seconds of her life. She looked into the mirror as the watch ticked away. _Tick, tick, tick, tick… _She looked at her chest in the reflection. She narrowed her eyes. To her, they looked slightly bigger… She sighed and cracked her knuckles, impatiently waiting. Then, the watch stopped ticking. Her heart skipped a beat. She scrambled for the test strip and looked at the color. She grabbed the box and read it as well. Eyes wide, she read the two results. Her head felt light. Was it really true? She looked down at her stomach and placed her hands on it.

Knuckles sat up and yawned loudly. He cracked his back and knuckles. He looked to his right and noticed that Rachel wasn't next to him. He looked over at the bathroom door and noticed that the light was on and the door closed. Remembering what had happened the night before, he listened intently, but he didn't hear anything. He got up and walked over to the door. He knocked on it twice.

"Hey, Rachel, you ok?" he asked. No answer. Worried, he knocked again.

"Rachel? Rachel, if you're ok, please answer me!" He heard the door unlocking from the other side. He waited as Rachel opened the door. Her cheeks were wet with tears, but whether they were tears of joy or sorrow, Knuckles couldn't tell.

"Rachel…?"

"Knuckles…" She looked at him, her stare hard to interpret. Her hand gripping the test result and her voice choking, she said, "I'm pregnant."


	4. Chapter 10, 11 and 12

Chapter Ten:

When he first heard the news, Knuckles didn't speak. He just looked into the eyes of his wife. He didn't know what to say… He didn't know what to think… Rachel's eyes were wide, as if pleading to him, desperate for his response.

"Please say something…" she begged, her voice shaking. Knuckles closed his eyes and lowered his head. She needed his answer… But he didn't have an answer at the moment. He tried to make it easier for his head to think…

_Ok, Knuckles, are you happy that you're having a kid? _Of course he was. He had been imagining the day when he and Rachel would have a family together since their wedding day. _Then why the hesitation? Are you upset about it? _Well… To put it simply, he was a little scared… He knew that now wasn't exactly the best to time to be having a baby; not with the Dark Legion roaming around. But he would have almost nine months to work on that… He sighed. He took Rachel's hand in his.

"Rachel, I-…"

Rachel started crying harder, easily able to read his face. He didn't want to have a child… He didn't want her to be pregnant…

"I knew it!" she cried, "You don't want to have this baby, do you? You wish I wasn't pregnant... You wish I would leave!" She tore her hand away from his and bolted out of the bedroom and out the front door, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. Confused, Knuckles stared after her.

"Rachel!" He immediately ran after her, not caring about anything else. She had misunderstood. He didn't feel any of those emotions. As he saw Rachel running faster and faster towards the shrine, he noticed a Regime from the Dark Legion marching towards the edge of the island. He groaned. He saw Dmitri not far behind them. Then, almost out of nowhere, Lien-Da came sprinting out towards the shrine. Dmitri ordered the soldiers to get their guns ready. As Lien-Da ran closer and closer to the Master Emerald, Knuckles realized their target…

Knuckles' head snapped straight in Rachel's direction and noticed that she was soon going to be in the line of fire. His mind set on one thing, he bolted straight for Rachel. At the exact moment the soldiers pulled the trigger, Knuckles dove and tackled Rachel to the ground, just barely in time to save her. When Lien-Da heard the lasers, she desperately tried to wrap her whip around Rachel's arm. The coarse rope met its mark and tightened itself around Rachel's arm. She yelled out in pain as the Kommissar pulled her closer and closer. Meanwhile, the soldiers began to advance forward.

Knuckles shot up to his feet. Growling, he yelled, "I do NOT need this right now!" He ran and grabbed Rachel's body, but he didn't tug. He grabbed at the rope and tried to pry it from her arm. Lien-Da grunted as she pulled with all her might, but the soldiers soon zapped her with their lasers. She cried out in agony and fell to the ground, her grip loosening. Knuckles immediately untied the rest of the whip and examined Rachel's arm. The skin was red and indented, the muscles swelled. Dmitri walked over to the couple as the soldiers tied up his unconscious granddaughter.

"My apologies, Guardian," he said briefly, "we didn't mean any trouble. It's just… My impatient granddaughter decided to come up with her own plan." He added the last part with a hint of annoyance. "Please, forgive me." Knuckles glared up at him.

"Yeah, sure, whatever, just try and keep her under control."

"But of course." The Grandmaster looked over at Rachel, who had her left hand clutching her arm in pain. She was still sobbing, the test strip still firmly grasped in her right hand. Dmitri looked at it for a moment. Then, without another word, he followed the regime back to their base.

Knuckles turned his attention back to Rachel.

"Are you ok?" he asked. Rachel sniffled and nodded.

"Yeah… I guess…" Her mind was still caught up in their previous issue, the whole reason why she had left the house in the first place. Knuckles touched her cheek gently and turned her head towards him.

"Rachel… Please, hear me out on this. I don't know what happened, but you misinterpreted my actions." He smiled gently.

"I'm happy we're having a baby. I'm glad that you're pregnant. I want you stay with me forever." He kissed her softly.

"I love you Rachel, and I love this baby. I'm excited I'm going to be a father." He looked down and placed a hand on her stomach. He shook his head in disbelief. "And I can't believe we're going to have a family of our own…"

Rachel looked up at him in surprise. "R-really? You… You really want to have this baby? Even though this isn't a good time at all to be having kids?"

Knuckles nodded. "Yes. I definitely want to have this baby. Besides, in my crazy life, I don't think any time would be a good time to have kids."

Rachel's tears of sorrow were quickly replaced with tears of joy as she smiled up at him. "Knuckles…"

The echidna pulled her close to him, his arms wrapped around her in a loving embrace. Rachel wrapped her arms around him in return, feeling relief fill her body.

Lien-Da slowly awoke from her unconsciousness. She found herself lying on her bed in the soldiers' quarters. Her eyes, slowly refocusing, she stared up into the bright lights of the room. She carefully sat herself up, noticing that she had been untied. She looked around in a daze. A faded taping sound came closer and closer to the room. The door slid open, and her ancestor slowly came into the room. She snarled at him.

"What do you want now? Some sort of long, drawn-out explanation for my actions?"

"No. I already know why you chose to act on your own. You feel that I need to kill the girl, get the Master Emerald, then kill Knuckles and take over this island."

Lien-Da didn't respond. She simply crossed her arms and glared away from him. Dmitri sighed.

"Well, if you haven't already guessed, I am keeping you here so that you won't cause any more unnecessary stir."

"WHAT?!" she shouted, jumping out of the bed.

"So, you haven't thought of it yet…"

"You can't do this!" she yelled, taking a step towards him. Dmitri backed out of the door.

"Don't worry. I will have the soldiers bring you food and water each day to ensure that you survive."

Lien-Da started stomping towards him, but before she could reach him, the door slid shut, and a soft _clink _sound signified that the lock had been activated. As Dmitri walked away, he heard Lien-Da yelling and pounding on the door as loud as she could.

Chapter Eleven:

Over the next three months, Knuckles helped Rachel along as her pregnancy progressed. He checked the Dark Legion base frequently to make sure that they weren't planning any attacks, but there wasn't even the slightest hint of any sort of… Well, anything going on. Rachel's stomach had grown slightly bigger, although not too big yet. Her symptoms were a tad bit more intense than a normal pregnant woman's (considering the fact that she was only 13). She threw up a little bit more, she felt more exhausted and she had more mood swings. But the symptom that really affected her the most was the cravings. Every day, she would ask Knuckles for different kinds of food.

"Knuckles, honey, can you please get me a cheesecake?" she said one night, her lip pouted. Knuckles laughed.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want." He kissed her on the forehead and went out to buy her an entire cheesecake. When he came back, he found her fast asleep on the couch. He softly laughed to himself and put the cake in the fridge. He picked Rachel up and carried her into the bedroom to lie her down for the night. He soon took off his gloves and shoes and silently slipped in under the bed sheets beside her.

The next morning, Knuckles woke up to find that Rachel wasn't beside him. He looked in the bathroom to make sure she wasn't getting sick, but he found it empty. When he went out into the living room, he let out a small gasp, his eyes wide and mouth dropped open.

"WHOA!" he yelled aloud. For there, sitting on the couch, was Rachel, the cheesecake box lying on her stomach, its contents completely gone. She looked at him in confusion and innocence.

"Wuhat?" she said, the fork still perched in her mouth. Knuckles laughed.

"You ate that entire cheesecake just this morning? How long have you been up?"

Rachel looked up at the ceiling. She took the fork out of her mouth.

"Maybe 10, 15 minutes…"

Knuckles put his hand on his forehead and let out another laugh. "You pounded down that entire cheesecake in just 10-15 minutes?"

Rachel's eyes grew as she made a cute face at him. "I was hungry, and I was still craving cheesecake…"

Also during those three months, Knuckles had gone to visit his mom again and tell her the good news. When, he told her, she screamed with delight and squeezed him tight in her arms. Knuckles coughed.

"Uh, Mom, you're kind of hurting me," he muttered.

In all of the frenzy and excitement of the news, Rachel and Knuckles almost completely forgot about the Dark Legion, or any of their past issues and experiences. But one day, just when they thought the Dark Legion had left them alone for awhile, they were terribly mistaken.

Rachel got up early and had decided to go outside alone to watch the sunrise. She stood on the edge of the island, both hands placed on her baby bump. She looked down at it.

"You know, once you're born, you'll be able to enjoy moments like this with me and your dad. And then, all three of us can live together on this island in absolute peace. Nothing and no one will take this paradise from us." She looked back out at the orange sun. She sighed. For those few blissful minutes she spent out there alone, she was certain that nothing could harm her.

But soon, with quickness and agility, a laser stunned her right in the back. She screamed and fell forward, he body paralyzed. She groaned as she began to black out, several soldiers crowding around her…

Knuckles stayed at the shrine, casually staring at the sunrise. He wanted to let Rachel have some alone time. His thoughts wandered back to how he was going to be a father in less than six months. The thought made him excited and nervous at the same time. Would she have an echidna or a human? Well, she couldn't really have an echidna, since they were born from an egg… But anything was possible. And if the baby was human, then there wouldn't be another Guardian to take his place… He pushed this thought to the side, deciding that it didn't really matter since he couldn't get any older. So unless something really bad happened to him, then it wouldn't matter if there was another Guardian. Would it be a boy or a girl? He kind of wanted it to be a boy… But it would be a nice change of pace in his line of family if it was a girl (considering the fact that only one Guardian has ever been a girl). There could be more than one baby. That thought kind of made his head hurt. He couldn't imagine dealing with more than one child, especially at that age.

He sighed and pulled his knees to his chest as he sat on top of the Master Emerald. He threw all his thoughts into the wind for a few moments so that he could enjoy the peaceful morning.

Then, out of nowhere, Knuckles heard Rachel let out a terrified scream. His head snapped over to the edge of the island. He couldn't see Rachel, but he could see a group of soldiers crowded around something. Knuckles jumped off of the emerald and hid behind it, just in case they tried to take him too. He carefully peaked over the other side and saw the soldiers carrying Rachel back into the forest. He didn't see anyone searching for him though… So, without a doubt in his mind, he silently followed the soldiers as they marched back to their base.

Chapter Twelve:

Dmitri silently observed Rachel in her unconscious state as she lay on the table in the lab. He had been right… She was with-child. He wrote all of the information he found out just by looking at her carefully and precisely. One tiny mistake, and the whole data could be messed up. He would have to do other tests on her, but not at the moment. He decided to wait for those when the time was right.

As for Lien-Da, well… She had finally stopped acting like a child and had accepted the fact that she was going to be stuck in that room for a long time. But it seemed as though he might need her after all, especially if the Guardian decided to try and take Rachel back. But for now, she would be kept right where she was.

Rachel slowly started to stir. Her eyes carefully opened halfway. She looked around for a moment before she steadily sat herself up. She looked over at Dmitri. Tears started to fill her eyes.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You are at the Dark Legion base, my dear."

"Why? Why am I here? I… I want to go home..." The tears were starting to roll down her cheeks now.

"It'll be all right. We only need you here for a short while. Then, you may go wherever you please."

"But what do you need me for? What are you going to do to me?" She was crying harder. She couldn't think straight. _Stupid hormones, _she thought miserably.

Dmitri stared at her with surprise. Was she really _that _upset that she was being kept there? What was he going to do with a girl who couldn't control her own emotions?

But he didn't have time to contemplate about it. For at that exact moment, a loud _BAM! _came from out in the control room. Dmitri looked out of the glass window on the door in the lab and saw the main door go hurdling down the hallway, several soldiers being flung with it. Several cries came from other soldiers as they were thrown across the room in all different directions. He saw Knuckles punching each of them as hard as he could.

As quietly as he could, Dmitri slipped over to the soldiers' quarters and unlocked the door. Lien-Da sat up in her bed with curiosity.

"So, you finally going to let me out?" she asked.

Dmitri nodded. "Yes. We have a big problem on our hands, and I want you to take care of him."

"What'd you do? Take his precious little wife away?"

"There is no time to discuss my actions! Just go out there and stop him!"

Without another word, Lien-Da drew out her whip and sprinted down the hallway and into the control room. Knuckles had taken out pretty much every soldier already, except for a small group of them. She cracked her whip back and wrapped it around his ankle, pulling him down and towards her. He grabbed the rope and yanked on it as hard as he could, sending her flying across the room. The whip released itself as she landed on one of the control panels. They both grunted as they rose to their feet.

"I'm guessing you're the one who ordered them to take Rachel here," Knuckles said through gritted teeth.

"Of course it wasn't me! I was locked up in the stupid soldier quarters for three months!" she said with agitation.

"So it was Dmitri then…" He should've known. But yet, it didn't seem like Dmitri to just take someone for his own plans. After all, he took the other Guardians for Dr. Finitevus' plans, not his own. There had to be something else to it…

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the group of soldiers carrying an unconscious Rachel on the table out into another room.

"Rachel!" Knuckles immediately ran towards her, but Lien-Da wrapped her whip around his ankle again. Before he could retaliate, she kicked him in the head and knocked him out cold.

Dmitri closed the door behind him. He looked through the glass and saw the soldiers laying her down onto the bed in the small room. He walked down the hallway and went into the laboratory again.

"All right you monster, I took the girl and the Guardian. Now what do you want?"


	5. Chapter 13, 14 and 15

Chapter Thirteen:

Knuckles grunted as he slowly woke up in a small room. The steel walls were cold and hard, and there was nothing inside but the bed he was laying on and the cold, hard door. He slowly sat up and was shocked to find that he wasn't bound to anything. His mind turned back to the memory of just before he passed out…

Rachel had been dragged away… But he hadn't seen where… And if he tried to get out, he would probably get stopped the second he walked out the door. But if he did nothing, who knows what would happen to Rachel. And if anything happened to her or the baby, then he would never forgive himself…

His mind made up, he walked over and put his head on the door. He couldn't hear anything… He took a deep breath, pulled his fist back, and punched the door off its hinges. He braced himself for any sort of fight, but no one was there. He looked around in confusion. _Shouldn't there be some guards around this place? _He kept his guard up as he started to look around for any sign of Rachel, or anyone else.

A weird feeling started to form in the pit of his stomach. No matter how long he walked or how many rooms he searched, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong… It felt like…

"Why the worried face, Knuckles?"

Knuckles spun around stared up into the robotic eyes of Dmitri. He snarled at him. "Maybe because you took my wife and kid somewhere and are doing who knows what to them!"

"Now, now, grand-nephew, I have done nothing to your love. I have simply kept her here."

"For what purpose? Why are you keeping us both here if you're not going to do anything to us? Why not just let us go?"

"Because this way, you won't cause me any more trouble, and with your wife kept here, I'm guessing you won't leave until you get her back."

"Cause you any more trouble? YOU'RE the ones that have caused ME all the trouble!"

Dmitri didn't respond to this. He just kept staring at him. But there was something strange in his eyes. Something like… begging, perhaps?

Knuckles decided to act on his instinct. "Tell me, Dmitri, what's the real reason why you're keeping us here? There has to be something more to this then what you're telling me."

Dmitri looked away from him, a flash of anger suddenly on his face. But he didn't seem mad at Knuckles…

"For the sake of the ones you love, Guardian, I suggest you go along with this. If you don't, then the consequences could be dire."

"Wait… What are you trying to say?"

"If you want them to be safe, I suggest you stop snooping." Dmitri started to walk away. Knuckles opened his mouth to ask something else, but he got hit in the head from behind, and once again passed out.

"Ugh… Where am I?" Rachel slowly sat up and looked around the empty room. But she could feel someone's presence… Someone was watching her… She looked around again, but she saw no cameras of any sort, and there were no windows whatsoever.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" she ventured. The eerie feeling wouldn't stop. If anything, it started to get worse. The strange silence made her heart beat faster. She wanted to get out of there… But where would she go? Unless she knew exactly where Knuckles was, then she would never be able to find him before getting stopped. She closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. She searched for any source of chaos energy nearby. Then, she felt it. He was nearer then she thought. He was in one of the rooms in that same hallway. He was only a few doors down…

She took a deep breath and carefully stood up.

"Ah!" The second she got on her feet, a sharp pain shot through her stomach. She groaned and sat back down, realizing that something was terribly wrong.

"Oh no… please don't tell me I've lost you already…"

Chapter Fourteen:

Knuckles paced back and forth in the same room he had woken up in before. He had tried punching the door again, but clearly Dmitri had made it more stable. He had to find Rachel. He didn't know what Dmitri had meant when he said that Rachel and the baby would get hurt if he kept searching for answers, but whatever was going to happen to them, he had to stop it. He had a feeling that it didn't matter whether he looked around or not. Either way, they were going to get hurt. He tried punching the door one more time. Nothing but a dent was left behind. He groaned, trying hard to think about a way to escape.

Then, out of nowhere, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He sat down on the bed, groaning slightly. But it wasn't his own stomach that was hurting… It was Rachel. His connection to her made him feel the same pain. There was something wrong with the baby… He got up and slammed his hands on the wall.

"DMITRI! LET ME OUT OF HERE, NOW!"

A speaker crackled in the room.

"I'm sorry, Knuckles, but I cannot do that."

"What did you do to Rachel!?"

No answer. Just silence. He shook with anger.

"All right, fine. If you won't let me out, I'll just break out myself…"

He took a deep breath and faced the door. He put his hands on the cold steel.

"Chaos Control!" The door instantly shot off of its screws. Knuckles stepped out of the room and headed down the hallway, already knowing where Rachel was.

Rachel lied down on the bed, the pain slowly subsiding. Once she was certain it had gone completely, she ever so carefully stood back up. Her thoughts were still worried about the baby, but she decided that getting out was the only way to figure out if it was ok. She opened the door and peered out into the hallway. Then, all of a sudden, her vision went hazy. There was someone in front of her, but she couldn't see who it was. But their presence felt eerily familiar to her. The sick feeling she had had in her mind became stronger than ever. She passed out as she felt the person begin to carry her down the hall.

The light of the room was far too bright for her eyes. She could only open them part of the way. But she could feel the person there again. They were staring down at her. Her eyes slowly began to adjust to the light. Their face was becoming more and more clear. Suddenly, she recognized the person's face… A face she didn't want to see ever again. Tears of fright filled her eyes. She couldn't move. She was literally being restrained, but by what she couldn't tell. She was too afraid to care. His horrible hand wiped her tears away. Her skin crawled under his cold touch. His face let out a sick smile. His other hand touched her stomach. She wanted to run. She wanted to get as far away from that room as possible, as far away from that man as possible.

Having no idea what else to do, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Chapter Fifteen:

Dmitri stayed in the control room. He told all of the soldiers (and especially Lien-Da) to leave him alone. He felt terrible. He was causing suffering and pain. This was his fault, just as it had been before. He was letting an innocent girl and her baby get hurt. He was letting himself and his people be used as a pawn again. He couldn't let this happen anymore. He had to take charge. There was no way he was going to get his end of the bargain. It was just like when Enerjak struck and brutalized his people. It had to end… now. But first, he had to find a way to get the girl free without him harming her.

Lien-Da waited impatiently. Dmitri seemed to have been in a foul mood and told her rather strictly that he needed to be left alone. She had no idea what he had been doing, or what he had planned to do. She was tired of being left in the dark. But for right now, it was best for her to do what she was told. She knew that Knuckles would definitely escape again. He was so stubborn and determined. He would never quit. She was ready to let out her frustration on someone. She twirled the whip around and let out a deep sigh. Then, she heard a few soldiers letting out a yell of pain. She grinned and stretched the rope.

Knuckles marched out down the corridor, slamming each soldier aside that tried to stop him. He wasn't going to let anything stop him this time. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Rachel or the baby. Nothing could happen-

"AH!" He felt the sudden sting of a coarse rope slash his muzzle, leaving a shallow red cut. His eyes barely caught the sight of the whip coming back in time. He stealthily snatched it before it met its mark right on his chest. He pulled it back as hard as he could, catching Lien-Da off guard. She fell forward flat on her face, her grip releasing the whip. Knuckles kicked it all the way down the hallway. He picked Lien-Da up before she could run away and pinned her against the wall. He held his fist back, but he didn't hit her.

"Where's Rachel?" he asked, glaring at her.

"How should I know? Dmitri never tells me anything," she said, barely able to breath.

"Why do I not believe that?" he said, his arm pressing tighter on her throat. She coughed, her breaths becoming desperate.

"I-I don't know where she is I swear!"

"Fine then. Where's Dmitri?"

"In the control room."

Knuckles took his arm away. She fell to the floor, coughing hard and holding her throat.

"Don't try and get in my way," Knuckles said as he walked away.

Lien-Da glared at his back. "Trust me, I don't intend to."

Knuckles kicked the door down. Dmitri turned around and looked at him.

"Knuckles, you have to stop him!" he said, a sense of panic in his voice.

"Where's Rachel?" Knuckles asked impatiently.

"In the laboratory. Please, stop him before he kills us all!"

Knuckles didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't wait for an explanation. He sprinted back out the door and headed straight for the laboratory.

He kicked the door down again, determined to get Rachel out of there. The second he entered, he saw Rachel standing on the other side of the room. But there was something wrong. There were tears of fear and desperation running down her face. She was whimpering slightly.

"Rachel!" Knuckles ran forward to take her back, but stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened in shock.

"No…"

He suddenly realized why Rachel was so scared. There, standing behind her in the shadows, was the person he despised more than anything. He had his arms wrapped around her, his mouth in a sneer.

Knuckles' fists tightened and his teeth clenched. "Let go of her right now, you monster."


	6. Chapter 16, 17, and 18

Chapter Sixteen:

The man's grin grew wider.

"Hello, Knuckles."

"I SAID LET HER GO, FINITEVUS!"

But the albino echidna had no intention of letting Rachel go. Instead, his arm wrapped tighter around her neck. She let out a cry of pain.

"I'm afraid she won't be going anywhere."

Knuckles ran forward, ready to attack, but Finitevus pulled out a button with his other hand.

"Uh uh, Guardian. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Unless of course you wish for this building go into oblivion."

Knuckles stopped, Dmitri's words ringing in his head. _Stop him before he kills us all! _Now he understood. If he attacked Finitevus now, then they were all doomed. He didn't know what to do. He sighed.

"What do you want from me?"

"You? My most recent plan doesn't involve you. But her…" Finitevus brought her even closer to him. "She's the one I want. I simply had Dmitri take you as well so that you wouldn't interrupt. Now, stay right there. Move any closer, and this facility goes up in flames." He slowly started to back up to the door behind him, keeping his arm tightly wrapped around Rachel.

"Leave her alone! I'm the one you want! Her chaos energy is with me now! You don't need her!"

Finitevus laughed. "That chaos energy would be too difficult to restore. I have a better plan in mind." He put the button away and put his hand on Rachel's stomach. She cringed.

"This is how I'm going to get what I want. All I need is sometime alone with your precious wife and unborn child. Then, everything will fall into place."

Knuckles glared at him. "You son of a…"

"Watch your language, Guardian, lest you want this pretty girl to get hurt." His arm wrapped even tighter around her. She started crying harder, a yelp of pain escaping her mouth.

Finitevus touched her cheek with his hand and turned her head towards him. Rachel shut her eyes and turned away from him. He kissed her cheek and pulled her into an embrace. Tears kept running down Rachel's face as she whimpered in fear and disgust. Knuckles' jaw tightened. He couldn't stand it anymore. He had to do something. Finitevus turned around and opened the door slowly.

"Until next time, Guardian."

Rachel talked to Knuckles through his mind. _Do it._

He nodded slightly at her, knowing exactly what she was talking about. He took a deep breath, feeling the immense chaos energy flow through him. Then, as quick as a bullet, he shot towards Finitevus. A perfect shot. He tackled Finitevus to the ground before he had time to react. Rachel was luckily able to escape his grasp in the confusion. She saw the button lying on the ground and quickly snatched it up.

"Knuckles! I have it! Let's go!"

Knuckles knew there was no time to try and grab a warp ring. He ran right towards Rachel and grabbed her. A second later, they both disappeared.

Finitevus groaned as he got up off of the ground. He smiled sardonically.

"You may have taken her back, but little do you know that the damage has already been done."

Rachel and Knuckles took deep breaths as they lied on the ground. It had all gone by so fast. After a few moments, Knuckles sat himself and Rachel up.

"Are you ok?" he asked worriedly, "I felt like there was something wrong with the baby…"

Rachel still had the button firmly grasped in her hand. She nodded.

"Yeah… I mean, physically I'm ok, but…" She started sobbing again. Knuckles pulled her into a loving hug. She cried into his chest, her body trembling.

"I thought we had gotten rid of him… I thought he would've left us alone after he didn't get my chaos energy…"

"It's ok, Rachel. I won't let him take you. I swear."

_I knew he wasn't gone for good… But I just didn't think he would come out now…_ He rubbed Rachel's back soothingly.

"Are you sure you're all right? Did Finitevus do anything to the baby? At least, that you know of?"

Rachel sniffled and shook her head. "But I have a feeling that my stomach started hurting because of something he did."

"Don't worry about it now. We'll go to the doctor just to make sure though."

"No evil doctors though, right?" Rachel joked, a smile appearing on her wet face.

Knuckles laughed. "No evil doctors."

"While the information you have given me has been useful thus far, Dmitri, you and your people, however, have been almost completely useless."

"What do you mean!? I've met all of your demands! I took the girl, prevented the Guardian from taking her back-…"

"It is my belief that the Guardian just took her away. And you did nothing to stop it, I might add."

"How was I ever supposed to know about it!? You threatened to kill my people! I was more concerned about getting rid of those bombs than trying to stop the Guardian!"

"I see… Then I suppose I will have to have someone else in charge, perhaps. Maybe… your ambitious granddaughter."

Dmitri's eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare let her-… AH!"

All of a sudden, his glass bubble shattered. His tendrils stopped functioning as he hit the steel floor with a hard _BANG!_ Finitevus smiled down at him.

"There. You have no way of fighting me if you can't even move, correct?"

"Blast it! You won't get away with this!"

"Oh, but I will, Dmitri. Now, I believe that will be all from you." Finitevus picked Dmitri's head up and placed him inside of a cardboard box. Knowing that there was no use in speaking, Dmitri stayed perfectly silent as the light from outside disappeared.

Chapter Seventeen:

After a short visit to the doctor, Rachel and Knuckles were relieved to find out that the baby was in perfect health. But knowing how Finitevus was, they both still had some doubts. But, at least, for the time being, the baby was still alive and well. They decided not to fret about it too much and try to move on with their lives until the next danger came. After two months, no danger had come, and Rachel was still fine going along with the baby. But the further and further along she got with the pregnancy, the more tired she felt. Knuckles was starting to worry about her more.

"Rachel, are you sure everything's ok?"

Rachel gave him a weak smile and nodded, her eyes droopy. "Yeah. I'm all right. Don't worry. It's just because I'm not as old as most people who get pregnant…"

"I know that, Rachel, but you seem to be getting even more tired than usual."

"Knuckles, I'm fine, I promise. It's nothing to worry about."

Knuckles nodded, but he still didn't believe it. There was something in the back of his mind telling him that something was terribly wrong…

Lien-Da searched the base for what felt like hours. She examined every nook and cranny, but Dmitri was nowhere in sight. She was getting tired of not having anything to do. Just sitting around made her feel useless… Plus, no one had seen any sign of him for an awfully long time. After all of the soldiers had searched everywhere, they proclaimed that Dmitri had disappeared for good. Lien-Da grinned at this news, knowing that finally, once and for all, she was now Grandmaster.

Lien-Da knew exactly what she was going to do. First, she planned to go after the meddlesome Guardian's wife, so that Knuckles would be forced to come out and rescue her. Then, she would capture him. And once that was said and done, she would kill them both. Once that was done, taking the island would be almost no problem. The dingoes were in no position to try and counter the Dark Legion's rule, and other than that, there really was no one else to oppose them. It would all work out in the end, just as she intended.

Knuckles felt his eyes starting to droop.

"Mmmm… You never told me you were good at massages."

Rachel smiled. "I haven't really done any until now."

"Well, I'd give you one in return, but with your, you know, baby bump…"

"It won't bother me. You can give me one too. Now hold still." She rubbed her hands up and down his back lightly. He sighed, feeling completely relaxed, his hands under the left side of his face. Rachel took her soft hands off of his back.

"Ok. My turn."

Knuckles groaned. "All right, honey." He carefully raised himself up off of the couch.

_BOOM! _They both jumped. They waited with bated breath. _BOOM! _Rachel looked at Knuckles worriedly. He instantly shot up off the couch and put on his gloves and shoes. He yanked the front door open.

"Wait, where are you-?"

Knuckles shut the door before he could hear the entire question. Rachel groaned. She cautiously stepped outside. She couldn't see Knuckles anywhere, but the booms were becoming louder and more frequent. She ran out farther from the house.

"Knuckles!" she yelled. No answer. She still couldn't see him. She ran into the forest, being sure to hide among the trees. The booms were getting even louder… They were giving her a headache…

She gasped as a giant tank came rolling right in front of the tree she was behind. One of the soldiers on top caught a glimpse of her. Then, out of nowhere, Knuckles dove and tackled her to the ground, just barely able to hide her behind the bushes. The soldier did a double-take, but decided it was just an illusion.

Knuckles watched as the tank rolled farther and farther away from them. He let out a deep sigh.

"Rachel, are you crazy?" he whispered, just in case there was anyone nearby, "You shouldn't be here!"

"What was I supposed to do!? Wait at the house being uncertain about whether or not you were ok!?"

"Well, yeah, kind of!"

"Knuckles, please, let me help you!"

"No, it's too dangerous! I don't want you to get hurt!"

"You expect me to be silent and excepting! I won't just sit there being worried sick about you all the time!"

"Rachel, go back to the house!"

"No!"

"All right, fine, don't do it for me then, do it for the baby!" His voice was getting louder.

"Knuckles…"

"If the Dark Legion finds you, you'll be thrown right back to Finitevus! Is that what you want!? Do you want risk your own life and the baby's just because you thought I wanted you to be docile!?"

Rachel didn't respond. Instead, tears started to form in her eyes. Knuckles took a deep breath and gave himself a moment to calm down.

"Look, Rachel, I don't mean to fight with you, honestly, it's just… you know how much I love you. You know how protective I am. I know you're frustrated, but now that we're having a baby, you know that things have to be different."

He kissed her lightly. "I love you, Rachel. Please, understand why I'm doing this."

Rachel looked into his eyes. She nodded sadly.

"I know, Knux, you're right. But it's just hard to-…"

"They're not here! Let's go and check the forest again!"

Knuckles watched the tanks start to roll back towards them. He placed his hands on Rachel's face. "It's not safe here, Rachel. Please, just stay where I put you until I come back for you."

Rachel nodded. "Ok." Her body slowly disappeared as the tanks came closer and closer.

Rachel opened her and felt the soft grass tickling her face as the wind blew it back and forth. She carefully sat up and looked around.

_Where am I? _she wondered. She let out a low yawn, suddenly realizing how tired she was. She put her hands on her stomach.

"It's only the middle of the day…" she groaned. But she was tired nonetheless. She couldn't even think about standing up.

_I'm so tired… Well, the grass is soft here… Wherever I am… Knuckles said he'd be back for me, so obviously he knew where he was sending me… Maybe I could lie down for just a moment… _

She lied back down on the soft grass, her exhausted body relaxing completely as she dozed off.

Chapter Eighteen:

Her eyelids fluttered open, warm bed sheets greeting her cold and weary body. She saw moonlight streaming in through the window to her left. How long had she been out? At first, she thought she was back in her house with Knuckles. But then, she looked around the room and found that it wasn't at her house, but yet it was… familiar. And then she remembered. The last time she had been in this room was just before she had been sent off to go look for the Chaos Emeralds with Sonic and Thunder…

She quickly sat up. She looked around carefully.

"Sonic?" she said cautiously. At first, there was no reply. Then, the silence was broken when the door started to open. Rachel saw the familiar face of the Werehog come into the room.

"Do you need something?" he asked.

Rachel didn't answer. She just stared at him. It had been so long since she had seen him… Practically six months! She felt her eyes starting to burn.

"Sonic, I…" She started sobbing loudly, her face in her hands. Sonic walked over to her and sat on the side of the bed. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Rachel, it's ok. Don't cry."

She buried her head in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her in return.

"I-I haven't been able to see you since that day…"

"I know." He let go of her, but stayed sitting beside her. He gave her a smile, but there was melancholy on his face. Rachel wiped the last of her tears away as Sonic looked down at her stomach. He smiled again, but he seemed even sadder.

"So, you're having a baby with Knuckles…"

"Sonic, I'm SO sorry! I was going to tell you, because I wanted you to know that we were still friends, but… SO much has happened! I didn't have the time!"

"It's ok Rachel. You don't have to apologize. I mean, you and Knuckles are married after all. You don't have to explain yourself."

There was a long silence. Sonic felt kind of awkward sitting there next to her after not seeing each other for what felt like forever. And especially now. The circumstances were different now.

Rachel felt kind of awkward too, so she cleared her throat. "Um… So, why did you take me here?"

Sonic smiled. "I couldn't just leave you lying there in the middle of a field, especially once it got dark. You would've gotten pretty cold."

Rachel smiled and nodded.

"So, what happened just before you fell asleep in the middle of the grass?"

"Well, I was on Angel Island with Knuckles, when the Dark Legion starting searching for us. So, not shockingly, Knuckles sent me somewhere where he thought it would be safer for me until they were gone. He said he would come back for me…" She didn't want to mention their fight.

"Well, I haven't seen him yet, and you weren't that far from the house. So, I assume the threat hasn't left yet."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

Sonic then told her that she was welcome to stay there until Knuckles came to get her. But he himself didn't want to see Knuckles. But he had to. It would hurt him too much to see Rachel and Knuckles together. And yet, he knew this would happen. He knew what he was getting into when he voluntarily let Knuckles have Rachel instead of him. But he never thought he would have to face both, or either of them, for a long, long time. Deep inside, he felt a little betrayed when he wasn't told about the baby…

He decided to leave Rachel alone for the rest of the night as he mentally prepared himself for when he would have to face Knuckles again.

Knuckles stayed low as he got closer and closer to the tanks. The soldiers were scattered around the forest, searching for any sign of Knuckles or Rachel. As Knuckles carefully dodged them and watched the tanks, he noticed that Lien-Da was the only one in charge…

_Where's Dmitri? _He decided not to wait around for answers. He sprang up and ran straight toward Lien-Da's tank. He drew his fist back and hit it as hard as he could, just before Lien-Da had a chance to notice him. She shrieked as the machine started to tip violently on its edge. She tried to catch herself as it suddenly fell all the way on its side. But her grip wasn't strong enough. She rolled over onto the ground, many soldiers surrounding Knuckles.

She stumbled as she rose to her feet. She glared at him as she yelled, "FIRE!"

But the lasers barely left the guns when Knuckles used all of the chaos energy inside of him to stop all of them short. He sent them back inside, causing all of the guns to explode in unison. Lien-Da stared at the scene in shock, all of the soldiers looking at their hands in the place where their guns used to be. Lien-Da quickly drew her whip, but Knuckles froze her on the spot. She could only move her eyes and mouth.

"Let me go!"

"Then what will you do? Your 'army' isn't much use without their weapons."

"What do you want!?"

"Simple. Where's Dmitri?"

"Tch, heck if I know. He just disappeared out of nowhere."

"How long ago?"

"Why should I tell you?"

His chaos grip on her grew tighter. She yelled out in pain. "All right, all right! About two months ago!"

"So you were made Grandmaster…"

"Who else was gonna do it?"

Knuckles wasn't paying attention to her anymore. He was thinking about something else. _Dmitri mysteriously disappeared without a trace… That can only_ _mean one thing. Finitevus did something to him. But if Lien-Da doesn't know where he went, then obviously she doesn't know that Finitevus was behind all of the plans recently… But why take Dmitri now? _He suddenly remembered that he hadn't gone to get Rachel yet. But there was something else he had to do first.

_Sorry, Rachel, but I guess you'll have to talk to Sonic more than you wanted to. _He released Lien-Da, and she instantly fell to the ground, her body aching terribly. As she struggled to sit up, Knuckles turned his attention to the tanks. He put his hand up and concentrated as hard as he could. Within moments, all of the tanks were exploding, as if an invisible missile had suddenly struck them. Flames rose in the air, quickly igniting the trees around them. Knuckles quickly extinguished them as well with his chaos energy. Knowing that the Dark Legion would no longer be a threat, Knuckles ran straight for the base.

_Man, thank Aurora I have Rachel's chaos energy! _But all jokes aside, he had to focus on the task ahead. He had to get to the bottom of what was going on.


	7. Chapter 19, 20 and 21

**Special Note to Super Sonic-Iblish: ****To hopefully help your confusion regarding your last review, have you read the other books in this series? If you didn't know, or haven't read them, there are three other books in this series. That should answer your question. (Especially if you read the third book.)**

**If you have read the other books, then maybe you're just confused with Deep Within the Shadows (which is a book completely separate from this series)... I don't know. Either way, I hope this helps! ^-^**

**~SonicKnuxMiku25096**

Chapter Nineteen:

Knuckles was relieved to find that no one was left inside of the Dark Legion base. Apparently all of the soldiers had been used to make up Lien-Da's little army.

_Good, less trouble for me. _Knuckles thought happily. He began searching every room, anxious to find out where Dmitri could have possibly gone. He was also careful to be in on the lookout for any sign of Finitevus. After several hours of searching, he sighed and decided to give up for the day. He realized that he needed to get Rachel back before she got too upset at being with Sonic. He quickly teleported himself to the field where he had put Rachel, leaving the Dark Legion base completely silent.

Rachel stayed inside of her old room until morning, feeling somewhat awkward being in the same house as the blue hedgehog again. He didn't want to speak to her, that much was clear. But she understood why. Things were way more different now than they were before the decision was made. But she was still curious… How did Knuckles manage to figure out the riddle before Finitevus? After all, she had needed to use an apparition to try and ward him off for as long as possible. But she could've sworn Finitevus had gotten to her first nonetheless. And she also could've sworn that Sonic and Knuckles had solved the riddle around the same time… How did they decide who was going to release her? She shrugged, realizing that it didn't really matter. She was married to Knuckles now, and that was that.

She kind of wanted to get out of the there… She felt happy to see Sonic again, but still… She let out a deep sigh of relief when she heard a knock on the front door. But Sonic however wasn't relieved. He opened the door, seeing his best friend standing there. He gave the smallest smile in his life.

"Hey," was all he said.

"Hey, Sonic."

"You're here for Rachel, right?"

"Yeah."

Sonic said no more as he knocked on Rachel's door. She instantly opened the door and ran into Knuckles' arms. Sonic's face turned dark as he turned away from them.

Knuckles touched her face gently. "Are you ok?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Knuckles turned to Sonic. "Thanks for taking care of her."

"I don't need your thanks. Just get out."

The couple's eyes widened.

"Sonic…" Rachel said timidly. Knuckles turned back to Rachel.

"Um… Why don't you go outside. I'll be out in a sec."

"O-ok…" Rachel nervously left the house, feeling a mixture of confusion and worry. She stole one last glance at Sonic's back before finally stepping outside.

Once he was certain that Rachel was out of hearing range, Knuckles turned back to Sonic. "What's wrong, Sonic?" he asked.

Sonic still had his back to him. "What's wrong?" he laughed wryly, "Are you kidding me? Did you seriously just ask that?" He turned his head only halfway around and gave the echidna a cold glare. "What do you thinks wrong?"

Knuckles just stared at him sympathetically. "If you explained, maybe I would."

"I give away the love of my life, thinking that you could maybe control her chaos energy better, and then we would also end our huge conflict. I felt happy for you guys, figuring that maybe I could move on perhaps… But then you send Rachel practically right on my doorstep. What were you trying to do? Rub it in my face that you got her instead of me?" He laughed again. "And not only that, but I learn that you two are having a baby! Isn't that convenient? Rachel's in danger at the same time that she's five months pregnant!"

"Sonic, that's not why I sent her to you. You know I would never want to-…"

"Then why me!? Why send her to me!? Couldn't she have been safe somewhere else!?"

"Sonic, listen to me, please!" Knuckles pleaded, "I knew that you would protect her, and there really was no one else who I could send her to, except for my mom and her family, but they're having a lot to deal with too."

"Whatever. Just get out."

"Sonic, I-…"

"GET OUT! I HATE YOU!" Sonic had whirled around and faced him completely, tears streaming down his face. Knuckles looked at him sadly. He knew it was unfair. He knew how Sonic felt about Rachel.

"I-I thought you were my best friend, and you do something like this to me! If I had to guess, you also broke your promise to me by telling her how I voluntarily gave her up!"

"Sonic, I would never break a promise to you! I never told her, and I never will!"

"It doesn't matter! I hate you, I hate you!" Sonic continued yelling, his eyes shut tight, tears coming out harder. "I hate you… I hate you…"

Knuckles wanted to comfort him, but he knew that Sonic wouldn't let him. He just turned around sadly and started to leave. He grabbed the doorknob. Just before he shut the door, he looked at the hedgehog sorrowfully as he continued to cry. Knuckles finally shut the door, leaving Sonic by himself.

Sonic sat down on the bed, his face buried in his arms. "I hate you… I hate you…" he kept muttering as the realization of how much he missed Rachel overwhelmed him.

Chapter Twenty:

Rachel looked at Knuckles nervously as he walked towards her. His face was full of depression, his head low. She grabbed his hand. "Are you ok?" she asked caringly.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine…" he replied hesitantly. _But Sonic isn't. _He took a long, deep breath.

"Come on. Let's go home," Rachel suggested. She gave him a small smile. Knuckles nodded, slowly teleporting them back to Angel Island.

"I don't care how long it'll take! Just get them ready!"

"Y-yes Grandmaster…"

The soldiers of the Dark Legion had worked tirelessly for days trying to rebuild newer and stronger tanks to replace the old ones. Under Lien-Da's rule, the Legion was suffering. All she cared about was trying to take over the island. But all in all, taking over the island was the last thing they needed. What they really needed was a new place to take refuge. Their base was starting to fall apart, and the bombs were still underneath them, although Lien-Da still knew nothing about that. She was bound and determined to kill Rachel and Knuckles, no matter what it took. Her greed was causing her to ignore everything else that was going on. She didn't even notice it when she passed Finitevus working in Dmitri's laboratory…

The next few days, Rachel and Knuckles poured out to each other about how they felt when it came to Sonic. Rachel said that she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about him… She still felt a hint of love towards him, but now she just kind of felt like perhaps it was better to just avoid him, no matter how mean it sounded. Things were so weird between them now.

Knuckles said that he felt like he had betrayed him. He had sent Rachel back to him when he missed her terribly… He wanted to still be friends with him, but now he felt like that wasn't possible. He made up his mind, though. He would talk to Sonic after the baby was born, and he would definitely do it alone. That way, they could both clear their heads and start over the next time they spoke.

For the next couple of months, they forgot about that. Instead, they focused on each other and the baby. Rachel was now seven months pregnant, and she felt like it too. Every once and a while, the Dark Legion would try pathetic attempts at killing them. All of them failed; miserably.

For the most part, everything was fine. But one day, Rachel fell terribly ill. She woke up one morning, her face a dark shade of red. She looked like she was in pain. She coughed frequently, her body not even able to move from the bed. Knuckles watched over her constantly. He never left her side unless she needed something. He placed a thermometer in her mouth and found out that her temperature was 116 degrees Fahrenheit. He held her hand tighter than he ever had before, afraid that she was going to die.

"Water… water…" Rachel muttered weakly, her voice barely even heard. Knuckles placed a cold, wet rag on her forehead.

"Ok, Rachel, just hang on a sec…" He quickly went into the kitchen and filled one of the glasses with cold water. Being careful not to spill a single drop, he carried it back to the bedroom. He sat down in the chair beside the bed. Rachel's eyes were closed, just as they had been since she woke up. Her face was tight with misery.

"Here," Knuckles whispered, putting the glass to her mouth. Rachel opened her mouth only just enough to let the cool water enter her mouth and slide down her parched throat. But even though she drank the whole thing, her thirst wasn't quenched. She didn't dare speak again… It hurt too much. All she could do was lie there and feel worse than she had ever felt before.

Meanwhile, Knuckles was wondering how on Mobius this had happened. Maybe she had caught it from somewhere… But she rarely ever left the house anymore. There was no way some outside person could've just accidentally given it to her.

Then, he remembered that Finitevus had had a hold of Rachel for a short period of time… Maybe that had something to do with it…

But he had no time to contemplate on it. For just moments later, the furniture in the room slowly began to shake. Knuckles felt the floor beneath him shaking as well. He growled.

"Not this again…" he moaned. He touched Rachel's face. "I'll be back soon, ok?"

Rachel kept her eyes shut as she ever so slightly nodded.

Knuckles ran out the door, and wasn't shocked when he was greeted by several large tanks. But these ones were bigger, and they looked as though they were made of a different material. He decided that he had to be cautious. He figured that destroying them wouldn't be so easy…

Lien-Da was standing on top of the one closest to him. She held her arm high. "Hold your fire!" she commanded. She carefully slid off of the edge, her whip firmly gripped in her right hand. She walked closer to Knuckles.

"Listen, Guardian. I want to offer you a deal, ok?"

"What kind of deal?"

"Oh, let's see here… If you don't destroy these tanks or disturb us anymore and give us the island, then… we won't kill you or your partner."

"Tch, no way am I gonna agree to that."

"All right then, you give me no choice." She snapped her fingers. Two soldiers came out pushing a table with a sickly Rachel lying on it. Her eyes were still shut, her body shaking with pain. Knuckles' eyes widened.

"Rachel!" He started to run towards her, but two more soldiers zapped him with their guns. Knuckles yelled out in pain as he fell to the ground. Lien-Da walked closer to him and placed her boot on his back. He cringed slightly.

He painfully looked up at her, only his left eye opened. "Please… Don't hurt her. She's pregnant and sick… Have mercy on her…"

Lien-Da sneered. "All right. Just give us the island, and we'll gladly give her back to you."

Knuckles felt cornered. Even if he used his chaos energy to get Lien-Da off of him, the soldiers holding Rachel captive would just shoot Rachel, and that would definitely kill her. He groaned, realizing that there was only one way to save Rachel…

_I'm sorry, Dad. I have to give up the very thing you and our ancestors fought so hard for. _"All right, you win. You can have the island. Just leave us in peace."

Chapter Twenty-One:

Knuckles and Lien-Da briefly went over their terms of the exchange. The Dark Legion could have almost the entire island under their control. The only things they couldn't touch were the Master Emerald, Rachel, Knuckles, and eventually the new baby. Otherwise, they could do whatever they wanted with the rest of the land.

After the deal was done and finalized, Lien-Da ordered the tanks and soldiers to immediately head back to the base. As he watched them disappear among the trees, Knuckles felt a deep sense of dread inside of him.

_Oh well… At least Rachel's safe… For now. _He sighed and sadly turned back home, deciding that Rachel was his top priority.

He sat down in the chair beside the bed again. She was fast asleep, but her face was still a rose shade of red, and sweat was beading all over her body. Her breathing was getting more labored. He rested his head on his hands as they clutched Rachel's hand. He slowly closed his eyes.

"What am I gonna do, Rachel?" he asked, "I can't leave the island under the Dark Legion's rule… It'll fall apart, especially with Lien-Da as the leader. But I had no choice… They were going to kill you! And you matter so much to me… There was no way I was gonna choose the island over you! But I have to get it back… But how? Oh Rachel… I really need your help right now." He kissed her cheek gently. He stood up and patted her hand as he laid it back down beside her.

"I'm going to get a doctor, ok? I won't be gone too long, I promise." And with that, the Guardian left the house.

The doctor examined Rachel for awhile, but in the end, he said that he couldn't put a name to what was wrong with her. It wasn't the flu, influenza, a fever, or even cancer. He just didn't know what was wrong with her. Knuckles thanked him anyways, but he felt terrible knowing that whatever it was that was wrong with Rachel didn't have a name. That meant that no one had ever dealt with it before, and there was no cure or any kind of medicine to help it. And on top of everything that was already going on, Rachel's pulse started going way down. She hadn't spoken in hours, and her condition was getting worse and worse by the minute. He had to do something… He wouldn't let her die like this. Tears were running down his face as he clutched her hand, feeling her life draining before him.

Just when he thought that there was absolutely no hope for her, he heard someone knock at the door. He curiously looked over at it. Then, a small white piece of paper came zipping in from underneath the door. He stared at it for a moment as it lied there on the floor. He carefully got up and walked over to it. His hands shaking, he picked it up and read it to himself.

_Dear Guardian,_

_ It is to my understanding that your wife is near death due to a terrible unknown disease. I believe I may know what is wrong with her, if you give me the chance to examine her myself. Please consider my hospitality and allow me to save her. But be quick with making your decision. If I am correct, your wife may die by nightfall if I don't see her. I believe you will know where to find me if you accept._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Dr. Finitevus_


	8. Chapter 22, 23 and 24

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Knuckles carried Rachel in his arms, his legs going as fast as they could. Although he didn't like it at all, he had to accept the fact that Finitevus was Rachel's last hope. Anger made itself more apparent to him after he had read the note. He was sick and tired of being thrown around because of Rachel's condition. But he didn't blame her. He was just frustrated that his enemies were getting everything they wanted from this terrible predicament.

But that wasn't his biggest problem. His biggest problem was getting Rachel to Finitevus in time. He had thought it over too many times. The sun was close to disappearing along the horizon. All of the pacing, groans of annoyance, and looks of worry were costing Rachel her life. He could hear her breaths becoming harsher, her chest heaving up and down. Her eyes closed tighter, her heart pounding her chest in a frenzy. Her body trembled all over, as if her mind were preparing for her final moments.

"Rachel, just hang on a little bit longer! We're almost there, I promise!" He saw the Dark Legion base as soon as he emerged from the trees. The soldiers guarding the edge of the forest stole curious glances at the spectacle. But Knuckles didn't care. Rachel would be dead in a matter of minutes.

He burst through the front door, not caring who saw. Lien-Da turned around as she noticed him sprint down towards the lab.

"HEY! Where do you think you're going!?" She yelled. She pushed a button on the control panel, a metal door closing in the middle of the hallway. Knuckles skidded to a stop.

"I thought we had an agreement! Do we have to go over the-…"

"NOT NOW!" Knuckles yelled, snapping around at her in anger. Lien-Da stared at him, totally taken aback. His body shook terribly, tears running down his face.

"I don't have time to explain! Please, just open the door!"

Lien-Da continued to stare at him. She didn't know if she could trust him. Her gaze turned to the extremely pale Rachel, whose breathing had become even hoarser. Her body was rigid. Lien-Da continued to look between the two.

"She's going to die if I don't get her in there now! Please, Lien-Da!" Knuckles desperately cried. She could see the desperation on his face… She had never seen him so pleading… He was serious…

"PLEASE, OPEN THE DOOR!" he yelled louder, his tears continuing to flow down his cheeks. Lien-Da stared into his eyes. She turned to the soldiers in the control room and gave a slight nod. They pushed a button. The door slid open. Knuckles didn't say anything, but his face said it all. He ran back down the hallway, not wasting another moment.

Knuckles burst through the door of the lab. He looked around the room wildly.

"FINITEVUS!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The evil scientist turned around at the other side of the room. He looked at Rachel.

"Quickly, put her on the table." Knuckles didn't hesitate as he laid Rachel's sick body on the lab table. He watched anxiously as Finitevus took a syringe off of the countertop and started to put it in Rachel's arm. Knuckles glared at him.

"If you hurt her anymore…"

"There's no need for concern, Guardian. If you recall, I need her. I won't harm her any further." Knuckles looked at his face. There was something off about him. He was showing an emotion that Knuckles had never seen him show before… What was it? Unease, maybe…? He had always seemed so certain of everything, but now… Was he really concerned about Rachel's well being? Of course. His evil plan required her to be alive and well. But yet he looked anxious about something other than that. He didn't actually…?

But he didn't have time to worry about that. He just focused on Rachel as the syringe slid into her right arm. After it had gone all the way through, Finitevus carefully took it back out and threw it to the side. He brought over a heart monitor and ivy. He put the small needle into her wrist. After he hooked her up to the two machines, he stood back and wrapped his cape around himself.

Knuckles stared at him in confusion and anger. "That's it? That's all you needed to do?"

"In part, yes. That injection should stop the-…"

Knuckles grabbed him by the front of his cape and slammed him against the nearest wall.

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THAT WAS ALL YOU HAD TO DO!? YOU MAKE HER WALK ON THE EDGE OF DEATH JUST TO HAVE ONE INJECTION DO THE TRICK!?"

Finitevus, slightly caught off guard, tried to regain his composure. He cleared his throat.

"Not precisely. That injection was only a temporary cure. To really eliminate the core of the problem, I'll require something much stronger. That was why I needed her here, so that I could observe her and find the permanent solution."

"Y-you… You had this planned all along! You gave her that horrible disease so that you could manipulate her and try and control her for good!" Knuckles' fists were shaking with fury. Finitevus didn't even have a cure… and he knew it… This was exactly why he didn't want to bring Rachel to him… He knew that some distorted plan like this was in place. He pulled his fist back, ready to nail him, but he was almost instantly interrupted.

"What is going on in-…!?" Lien-Da had kicked the door down and was walking into the lab when she saw the scene in front of her. She barely even noticed Knuckles and Rachel. Her eyes widened with rage when she saw Finitevus.

"YOU TRAITOR!" she yelled as she ran towards him. But Fintevus opened a warp ring right in front of her. She ran through it and couldn't stop herself before she ran into the wall on the other side. She fell to the floor in a heap. She groaned as she slowly blacked out. While Knuckles was slightly distracted, Finitevus head butted him. Knuckles yelled in pain and instantly released him. The albino echidna ran forward and punched him in the face several times. Knuckles staggered backwards, struggling to gain his composure and fight back. As the two echidnas continued their fight, Rachel's heart monitor suddenly spiked. But they barely even noticed. They kept punching each other, determined to beat the other to a pulp. But when Rachel's chest tightened and her breathing became louder, they both turned and looked at her in concern. They rushed to her side, trying to find out what was happening to her.

"I thought you said that the syringe you gave her would take care of her for a while!" Knuckles yelled angrily.

"Her disease isn't the issue. The chaos inside of her seems to be awakening on its own…" Finitevus replied.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

As Knuckles demanded for answers, Lien-Da slowly regained consciousness. She scrambled to her feet and saw Knuckles yelling questions at Finitevus. She pulled out her whip, ready to slash Finitevus until he was begging her for mercy. As she walked forward and readied her whip, a white glow started to emit from Rachel's body. Before any of them could even begin to figure out what was happening, they were all consumed by the growing light.

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Rachel's body ached terribly. The sun's rays beamed down on her drowsy eyes. She wanted to move, but her body felt as though it were nailed to the ground. At first, she wasn't entirely sure what had happened. The entire time she had been sick, she had no idea what had been going on. As a matter of fact, she was certain she had felt death's embrace…

But now, she was confused, lost, and slightly afraid.

"Knuckles… Where are you?" she muttered miserably. She wanted to see him more than anything, especially after her brush with death. She had been remembering all of the things that had happened to her ever since she had met him and Sonic. Tears ran down her face as she realized that she wasn't going to die like she thought she was. She smiled, and then, for almost no reason whatsoever, other than the joy of being alive… She laughed. She laughed loudly, her mind letting go of everything it was thinking, except for one repetitive thought. _I'm not dead… I'm not dead… _The tears continued to run down the sides of her eyes as she kept on laughing. Then, after a few minutes, she finally got control of herself and stopped. The fear deep inside of her then started to take place of the joy. She was alive, but she had no idea where Knuckles was, let alone if he was ok. Her smile turned into a frown, her worries controlling her mind. She let out a whimper of sorrow.

"How are you faring?"

Rachel's eyes snapped over to her left. She saw Finitevus staring at her, blankness in his usually cruel or teasing eyes. Her eyes widened in unease, but her body still wouldn't co-operate with her, no matter how much her mind told it to. She had to get away from him. His gaze didn't break from her for even half a second. What was with those eyes? Why did he seem like he wasn't planning to hurt her? He didn't care about anything or anyone but himself. Every time he looked at someone, his eyes were either showing his sick entertainment, or his deep concentration or anger. But yet there he was, standing beside her, his eyes absolute. Her sorrow turned to anger and fear in a flash, her mood swings becoming active from her pregnancy. Her jaw opened, words trying to force their way onto her lips, but not a single sound formed in her throat. All she could do was stare at him, her mouth dropped open slightly.

"Here, allow me to help you," he offered. He reached his arms out towards her. The moment his hands touched her skin, her body immediately responded. She smacked his hands away from her.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed. She scrambled away from him, remaining firmly on the ground. Finitevus slowly walked towards her. She continued to scoot back.

"Stay away from me, you sick cruel monster," she muttered. But Finitevus didn't stop. He kept walking closer and closer to her. His hands were held up slightly to show a sign of innocence, as if he was pleading for her to stop.

"Stop it… Stop coming closer! Just get away from me!"

"Rachel…"

"DON'T SAY MY NAME!" He had never called her by name before. He made it sound so weird… He name seemed almost alien to her when he said it, but she didn't know why. And the way he said it… He tried to say it like he was her lover or a humble servant. It disgusted her.

"D-don't pretend like you love me! You don't care about me! You don't care about anyone! You practically killed me with that terrible disease! You almost killed my child! You almost manipulated me and made me your slave! You turned Knuckles into Enerjak again! You're the sickest person I've ever met! I… I… I… I HATE YOU!" Tears ran down her face as she went farther and farther back. Finitevus kept trying to calm her down and help her, but he stopped cold, his eyes widened. He had suddenly realized where Rachel was going to end up if she didn't stop moving back. But she apparently didn't know the danger directly behind her. She kept moving back further and further, not caring about anything but getting as far away from him as possible. Suddenly, she felt her body no longer attached to the ground when she moved back. Instead, she felt her back plummet downwards rapidly. It took her a moment to realize what was happening. Then, when it all came to her, she knew it was too late. She was falling, falling, falling. She didn't even gasp or scream. She was in too much shock to do either. She thought it was the end… She may have escaped death not too long before that, but now there was no escape. It was all over for her… All of her dreams of holding Knuckles and her baby were flashing before her. She had only been a month away… And now it was all over.

_I'm sorry Knuckles… I didn't get to say goodbye… Maybe we'll see each other again someday. _She closed her eyes, ready for it all to end. Her body stopped in midair, a hand grasping hers tightly. She gasped slightly. She opened her eyes and looked up in shock. Finitevus was holding her hand tight. Rachel could see his cape waving off to the side in the wind. His eyes were locked on her dangling body. He grunted as he slowly started pulling her up and back onto the cliff. She groaned as she kneeled back down on the soft grass, her shaking hands touching the ground. She took deep breaths, her mind trying to process everything that had just happened. Her eyes looked up slightly and saw her savior's body standing in front of her. Although, he didn't say a word. He just stood there, staring…

After a minute or so, Rachel was finally able to utter, "Th-Thank you…"

Finitevus still didn't speak. Soon, he had Rachel in his arms as he began to carry her away from the edge. Rachel was too tired to protest… She didn't know where he was taking her, or even if he himself knew where he was taking her. But she didn't care. She had escaped passing away for the second time in one day.

Her weary eyes dropped shut as the sun disappeared completely, the moon taking its place. As she slept, she rested her head on Finitevus' chest. He remained silent as he walked on, his mind filled with thoughts about the girl in his arms.

Chapter Twenty-Four:

Knuckles paced the ground back and forth. He didn't have any clue where he or Rachel was, he still hadn't found a permanent cure for Rachel, and on top of all that, he was stuck with Lien-Da. She glared at him as she stood off to the side leaning against a tree.

"Would you stop walking back and forth already? You're making me dizzy just watching you."

"I'm not gonna stop until I find a way out of this mess!" he snapped back, "If you don't like it, then look somewhere else!"

She turned her head away from him and huffed, her arms crossed. "I can't believe I'm stuck with you…"

"That makes two of us…" Knuckles sighed. There was almost nothing he could do… He had to figure out where he was… He was almost certain that he wasn't on Angel Island anymore. But then where was he? He groaned loudly in frustration. He kicked a small rock as hard as he could and watched it skitter across the ground. His thoughts traveled to his lost wife.

_I have to find her… I have to find her… _If he didn't find her in time, then that disease would kick in again and consume her, maybe even end her. But then he thought about the situation more and more. If he was stuck with Lien-Da, then it was possible that Rachel was stuck with…

"Oh no…"

"What?" Lien-Da asked, her attention back on him.

Before she got an answer, Knuckles took off into the forest.

"HEY!" she called after him. She sprinted up right behind him and yanked his arm back. He angrily skidded to a stop and tried to get her off.

"Let go of me!" he yelled.

"No! Not unless you give me some answers!"

"Answers!? You haven't even asked me any questions!"

"Well, I'm going to now, and once you're done answering them, then I'm going with you to wherever it is you're going."

"And if I don't answer them?"

"Then I'll grab your leg with my whip and hang you from that tree!"

Knuckles sighed. There was no way around it. "All right, fine. Ask away."

Lien-Da loosened her grip, but didn't completely let go. "Ok. First question: Why was Finitevus in Dmitri's lab with you?"

"Long story short, Finitevus was the one telling Dmitri what to do. He gave Rachel, my wife, a sickness that almost killed her. I was taking her into the lab so that Finitevus would cure her. That's why I was so desperate to get in there."

Lien-Da paused for a moment. "Ok then. I guess you answered my second question too… All right, final question: Why were we sent here?"

"Tch, heck if I know. I'm just as clueless as you are when it comes to that question. I don't even know where we are." He looked off into the forest. "But I think I know where Finitevus and Rachel are."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And how do you know that?"

He looked down. "I… I can't really explain it, but… I'm kind of connected to Rachel. I can see where she is. But I'm not quite sure it's right for some reason…"

Lien-Da finally let go of him and nodded, although she was slightly confused. "All right then; lead the way, Guardian."

And with that, the two echidnas started to walk into the depths of the woodland.


	9. Chapter 25, 26 and 27

Chapter Twenty-Five:

Rachel felt her exhausted body slowly awaken from her deep slumber. She coughed loudly. She felt like her body was on fire. The ailment was definitely coming back. She didn't even attempt to sit up. She turned her head to the right and saw Finitevus standing in the middle of the field, his arms crossed. He was staring up at the bright moon thoughtfully. Finitevus simply glanced over his shoulder and looked at her as she coughed again.

"So, your disease has come back… I suppose my temporary cure didn't last as long as anticipated." He walked over to her and placed a hand on her forehead. She didn't care that he was touching her. As a matter of fact, she kind of liked it.

"No need for concern, my dear. I shall use the same substance that was used to make the temporary cure. That should keep it under control until I can find a permanent solution."

A smile broke out on Rachel's lips. Then, out of nowhere, she started laughing. She couldn't help it. She found it so funny… Finitevus' eyes turned back into their playful state, his mouth turned into a slight sneer.

"And what do you happen to find so amusing, sweet girl?"

Rachel stopped laughing but kept the smile on her face. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? I know that the only reason you're keeping me alive is so that you can complete your next heinous plan."

"For future reference, it is not my belief that you are unintelligent in the slightest. I believe I told you before that you are such a smart and talented girl. And certainly more informed than the rest of Mobius. Based off of this, I suppose you could say that that is another reason why I have kept you alive." He stopped there, but Rachel could see that there was another reason why, and she was pretty sure she knew what it was. But she didn't say it, because for whatever reason, deep inside herself she knew she felt the same way.

_Wait… What's wrong with me!? He's trying to use me so that he can burn the world to the ground and rebuild it again! There's no way I actually…_

Her thoughts pushed to the side, she felt her eyes light up with affection. "Doctor, could it be that you're flirting with me?"

"Not at all, my dear. But interpret my actions however you like. Now, allow me to end your suffering."

One of his hands gently touched her cheek. Her mind told her to cringe and get away, but her heart warmed up under his touch. It beat a thousand times a second. Why was she feeling like this? Ever since he caught her from falling and told her that he was the one that had temporarily cured her, her heart throbbed just being near him. But there was no way that just being grateful for what he did was making her love-sick. Suddenly, she felt a warm aura fill her body. His chaos energy felt like it was fusing with hers. It felt so good… Her chest felt lighter, her body returning to its normal temperature. Whatever he had done, it had definitely warded off her illness, as well as all of the doubts in her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about that echidna scientist kneeling beside her.

Half of her mind was saying: _How can you think like this!? He's CREEPY! He's evil! And I'm pretty sure you screamed at him that you hated him!_

The other half said: _But that was before… That was before he saved me… He saved my life for the second time. Besides, we have a connection. His chaos energy feels so warm next to yours… I don't want to stop that feeling ever again…_

Then, Finitevus' body positioned itself closer to her. She felt her heart exploding, her mind racing. The half of her brain she didn't want to win was overwhelming her.

_Please… Come closer, _it begged, _Come closer. I want to feel that aura again… Please, just come a little closer… _

Rachel soon felt herself losing control of her body. Her eyes glazed and glowed brightly. Finitevus's eyes drooped as his face came slightly closer to hers, his arms slyly wrapping around her hips. She made no movements, her whole intellect favoring him and only him. There were no more debates in her wits. His eyes closed as he smiled cruelly but mischievously as his face came ever so closer…

Sonic walked through the calm forest as the moonlight shone on his midnight fur. His emerald green eyes stared thoughtfully at the ground in front of him as he took each step. He didn't think about much anymore… He didn't even think about Rachel. He had realized that moping around over her being with his best friend would never get him anywhere. All it would do was damage himself as he held his own pity party. So he decided to move on. After all, he HAD sacrificed Rachel with his own conscious, so obviously he had to learn how to cope with it. And if he did see her or Knuckles again, then he would apologize to them for acting so recklessly and not feeling happy for them when he first saw the couple. He sighed, letting his tired mind drift away with the wind.

Then, out of nowhere, he heard something out of the ordinary. He stopped, listening intently. He had been in the forest many times, but he had never heard…

He slowly walked towards the familiar clearing that he visited every so often. As he peered through the bushes, his eyes widened at the scene before them.

There, right in the middle of the clearing, he swore he saw Finitevus and Rachel making out. He blinked several times. There was no way… But after a half a minute of watching, he realized that it was true… It was really Rachel, and it really was Finitevus. Sonic's mouth gaped open as his body froze in absolute stun.

_Well, maybe he forced himself onto her… _he thought hopefully. But these hopes were crushed when he saw Rachel's arms wrap around the echidna tautly. Finitevus' arms were already wrapped around her, but they held on even tighter now. Sonic couldn't watch anymore.

_Wh-what's going on here? Why is Rachel cheating on Knuckles, with his arch nemesis nonetheless! _His mind was jumbled and confused. He couldn't seem to find any reason why Rachel would just go and have an all out fondling session with the evil doctor. Knuckles had to know… Whether he caught them himself, or Sonic told him, Knuckles had to know. There was no way he could be kept in the dark about something like this. Sonic decided that he had to tell Knuckles immediately, especially before the baby was born.

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Knuckles and Lien-Da trudged on through the thick thistles and grass. Knuckles could feel Rachel's presence coming closer and closer to him with each step he took. But he felt something else along with it… Someone else with chaos energy… He immediately concluded that his worst fears were realized. Rachel was with Finitevus.

_Aurora only knows what kind of twisted things he's been doing to her. _Directly behind him, Lien-Da sighed in annoyance.

"Are we almost there?" she asked impatiently, "I really need to get my lash on that albino double-crosser…"

"Just quiet down, will ya? You'll get your payback later. Let's just focus on getting there first…" As they stepped onto several more branches, Knuckles suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Lien-Da unintentionally bumped into him.

"Ow!" she said harshly.

"Sorry…" he replied grudgingly.

"Well, you might as well explain why you had to stop mid-walk, because I sure as heck can't find any reason for it."

Knuckles didn't respond. Instead, he listened intently for any sign of what he thought he heard.

_I could've sworn I heard something unusual nearby… _He shrugged it off, trying to focus on where he was going, but his mind twisted with thoughts about that strange noise… His walked slower, his steps becoming gradually farther. Lien-Da looked at him suspiciously.

"I swear, if this is one of your attempts at trying to get rid of me…"

"Ugh, it's not a trap. I just though I heard something out of the ordinary, that's all."

"Sure, whatever…"

Then, only a few minutes later, he heard it again. But instead of stopping, his feet moved faster. Before he knew it, his legs were going practically full sprint. Lien-Da struggled to keep up with him as she stumbled over the hidden branches. Pretty soon, she had almost lost him. She sped up and just about tripped over him as he kneeled down on the ground.

"What the-…? What are you trying to do, kill me!?" she yelled angrily. Knuckles covered her mouth with his hand and put her down into a kneel next to him. He put his finger to his lips as she tried to pull his hand away from her. She instantly stopped struggling and followed Knuckles' eyes. Knuckles looked through the tall grass, not exactly able to see what was happening, but definitely able to hear the distinct voice of the werehog.

Sonic thought about going to find Knuckles right away, but decided against it. He wanted answers. Otherwise, he may not be able to help Knuckles when he found out the truth. He had to tear Rachel and Finitevus apart. He stared at the two as they continued to kiss each other intensely. Just as he made up his mind, he rushed forward and tackled Finitevus off of Rachel before either of them even had a chance to notice him. Sonic picked him up and threw him into a tree with full force. He hit the tree with a loud _THUD! _ Rachel sat up, resting back on her hands. Her face showed her absolute shock and horror as Sonic came up to her. He looked at her with a mixture of confusion, anger, and worst of all, distress.

"Rachel… How could you do this!?" he yelled. Rachel looked up into his eyes. They pleaded for understanding. They seemed lost, unfamiliar, even desperate. Rachel's mouth gaped open slightly, her body beginning to shiver.

"I… I… I…" she stuttered. Sonic shook his head in despair.

"Rachel, why would you do this to him? Why would you cheat on Knuckles like this? Did he do something wrong? Is something going on between you two? Rachel, I need to know!" He grabbed both of her shoulders, his eyes boring into hers.

"I… I…" she continued to mutter. Finitevus groaned and grimaced as he sat himself up against the tree. He decided to lay low for a short while to see what happened…

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

"Sonic!" Knuckles came bursting out of the thick forest, Lien-Da right on his heels. Sonic looked over at him.

"Knuckles! Look, dude, there's something you need to know…"

"Know what?" he asked as he walked up to him and Rachel. He saw him holding Rachel's shoulders and looked at him peculiarly. "Why are you holding Rachel like that? What happened?" The Guardian could see the anguish in his friend's eyes as he looked away from him, his ears drooping down slightly. Rachel stared up at her husband. He looked back at her and saw the bewilderment in her eyes.

"Sonic…?" he said uncertainly.

"Knux, look, there's something you really need to know, and right now, I don't know the whole story, but…"

"What whole story? What's going on?" he asked more urgently. Sonic bit his lip for a second, unsure if he was ready to tell him.

"Knux… Look, it's about Rachel… and Finitevus…"

"What a coincidence, because I have a few words about this no-good echidna too!" Lien-Da had grabbed Finitevus up by the front of his cape and wrapped her whip around his arm.

Knuckles ignored her. He kept all of his attention on what Sonic was going to say. He waited with bated breath. When Sonic didn't speak, Finitevus let out a small but devious laugh.

"It seems that we have come to a stale mate. Do you wish to tell him, beast, or shall I?"

Sonic glared at him coldly, but quickly turned back to Knuckles. Now, even Lien-Da couldn't help but pay attention.

"Tell him what…?" she asked inquiringly, turning to the other scene. Sonic took a deep breath.

"Well, you see… I was walking through the forest, and when I came to this clearing, I-I saw… I saw Rachel and Finitevus kissing." He looked sideways at Rachel, who was still in the exact same position, as if she was glued to the spot, "And the kissing was a little intense if you ask me."

"Any sort of kissing's bad…" Knuckles replied absentmindedly. He too was looking at Rachel. His expression was blank, which was the part that scared her. It hadn't clicked. It was as if Sonic hadn't said anything at all. It went in one side of his brain and out the other. Lien-Da's eyes widened, the words processing in her mind first.

"What…? You mean… Her and…" She looked at Finitevus in shock. He was watching the spectacle as if it were an entertaining play. His grin grew wider as realization finally found itself to Knuckles.

Finitevus and Rachel… together… like that… A smile broke out on his face, a nervous laugh escaping his mouth. "Y-yeah right…" he muttered, "Rachel and Finitevus… That's a good one Sonic… What, you trying to break me and Rachel apart, is that it…? I mean, you kind of had me worried there for a second, but the more that I think about it…" He turned towards Sonic, a grin on his face. "Right? I mean, it's not actually true, is it? There's no way its true… Right?" Sonic looked at him sadly. He slowly shook his head.

Knuckles' smile disappeared. His eyes widened as it dawned on him.

"N-no… No… It's not true… You're lying…" he uttered as he carefully stepped back. When Sonic didn't change his expression, the red hero turned to Rachel. Her body still quivering but in the same place, her horrified eyes looked up at him. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. Knuckles looked down at her in misery, tears slowly beginning to form.

"It's not true… T-tell me it's not true…" he said, his voice choking. Rachel stayed exactly the way she was, not even daring to move.

"I… I…" was all she could say. The tears were pouring out now. His shoulders shook as he stood there staring at her with betrayal. Not knowing how else to handle it, he broke out sobbing, quickly burying his face in his hands. Sonic looked at him in sorrow. Lien-Da even kind of felt bad for him as she watched him desperately trying to escape his sudden heartbreak. Finitevus' grin had grown wider. _It's like an endless puppet show… The marionettes have their strings pulled too harshly, and they instantly fall apart. _

Knuckles gained his composure just enough to look up at Rachel and yell, "How could you do this to me!? Wh-what did I do!?Why did you hurt me like this!? If there's a reason why you felt like you had to do something like this, please, share it!" He stepped closer to her. Sorrow and anger were dangerously formed into a giant torrent in his mind. There was nothing he could do. He had to let it out.

"Tell me, right now! How…? How…? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?"

Rachel looked around her in a daze. Everyone was looking at her. Her mind was befuddled, her heart torn to pieces. She kept her mouth shut as she tried to find an explanation for something that she didn't even remember happening.


	10. Chapter 28, 29 and 30

SonicKnuxMiku: Ok, time for a little disclaimer! You don't have to read this if you don't want to. But I really don't want to get sued or something, so here's a little disclaimer. I would get Sonic or Knuckles to do it, but they're, you know, busy at the moment... Lien-Da is repeatedly refusing to, and Dmitri is... well... MIA... So, all that's left is Finitevus. Here, read this.

Dr. Finitevus: *sigh* Must I read such pety documents?

SKM: These "pety documents" will save me from a lawsuit! If you want to keep having a job and a place in my stories (possibly my next new story outside of Sonic Chronicles), then I suggest you read it!

Finitevus: As you wish. "Most of the characters from this Sonic Chronicles series and all of SonicKnuxMiku's stories belong to SEGA. She does not take ownership of these characters."

SKM: There, was that so hard? Now, get out of here before the fans beat you to a pulp for making Rachel cheat on Knuckles.

Finitevus: I believe _she _came onto _me. _

SKM: And why on Earth would she do that?

Finitevus: Perhaps I am more attractive than you believe.

SKM: O_o Um... *looks him up and down* No... You are definitely not attractive enough to cheat on Knuckles.

Finitevus: The fangirls of Fanpop and Deviantart would say differently.

SKM: ... Ok, that part's true, and yes, I am a slight Finitevus fangirl, but I would NOT cheat on Knuckles just for you!

Finitevus: *sneers* Well, Knuckles isn't here at this moment, so perhaps...

SKM: Ok, enough of this. Enjoy the story! Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall beat Finitevus' dirty mind off with this lacrosse stick.

Finitevus: Wait... What are you...? AH! MADAM, CONTAIN YOURSELF!

SKM: NAUGHTY FINITEVUS, NAUGHTY!

Ok, seriously, after a long wait, here's the chapter! Please give me feedback and stuff in your reviews! :D

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Rachel knew they were waiting. No one in the clearing even dared to breath as they awaited her answer. But she had no answer. How could she have an answer to something that she had no idea about? She didn't know what they were talking about… After she had gotten sick again, she blacked out. But apparently she hadn't… It was all so puzzling… She couldn't wrap her head around it. They were telling her that she had made out with Finitevus… But she swore that she was knocked out cold. How could both of those things exist at once?

She opened her mouth, finally ready to answer. "Knuckles…" she said slowly, trying to keep her voice steady, "I don't know what happened, I swear… What Sonic's talking about… Me being with Finitevus… I don't recall it ever happening…"

Knuckles laughed coldly. "Oh, isn't that convenient! I mean, you have to be telling the truth if you don't remember cheating on me!"

"Knuckles…"

"I don't wanna hear your excuses. Just get out of my sight."

Rachel started crying too, tears running out of her eyes like Knuckles. "Knuckles, please, listen to me! I don't know what happened! I got sick again, and so I just passed out…"

"You're kidding me… You've gotta be effing kidding me… So you're telling me that Sonic made up a sick lie just to tear us apart or something… And Finitevus just so happens to know about it as well."

"I'm not saying it didn't happen, I'm just…"

"Oh, so admit it! You admit that something happened!" His voice was getting louder. Rachel's tears came out harder.

"No, what I'm saying is… Look, it's hard to understand, but somehow what Sonic's saying is true, and yet I can't remember it…"

She stood up for the first time and walked over to her husband. She took his hands in hers. "Knuckles… I'm sure we can figure this out, you and I…"

Knuckles tore his hands away from her in disgust. He glared at her before turning his back to her.

"I don't want to figure out anything with you. You can figure it out with your new boyfriend. If you want him, go have him. Just make sure you stay the heck out of my sight."

"Knuckles, honey, please…" She touched his shoulders gently, her cheeks wet with her desperate tears. No one else had even flinched, but emotions whirled around in each of their minds. Sonic was watching in horror and sorrow as he could feel his two best friends' hearts tearing in two. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like if Knuckles and Rachel got a divorce, especially when their baby was only a month away from being born.

Finitevus, however, had a mind that was turning with excitement and eagerness. It was all coming together… The final pieces of his glorious plan were falling into place at last… All he needed now was for Knuckles to leave the forest, and he could finally finish the final stage.

_Leave now, Guardian. Refuse to protect your beloved Rachel. Then, she shall fall into my arms and be mine for eternity. _

Lien-Da wasn't thinking much. She was just utterly shocked at what she was hearing.

Knuckles shrugged Rachel off harshly.

"Don't touch me. Just leave me alone."

Rachel whimpered slightly.

"Knuckles, please…"

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" The red echidna whirled around in a flash, but his face didn't show anger. It showed depression, and a deep sense of betrayal. "You're nothing but a faithless ho to me!"

Rachel choked up, not knowing what to do or say. In that instance, she was certain that there was nothing to say or do. Knuckles had made up his mind. Doing anything else would only make things monumentally worse. She waited in dismay for what was to come.

"Here, and you can keep this." He ripped his left glove off, revealing a gold wedding band on his ring finger. He yanked it off in despair and threw it to the ground in front of Rachel's feet. She fell onto her knees in loss. She put her face in her hands as she cried harder. Knuckles was miserably staring at her, the whole situation taking over his heart.

"Wh-Why should I let that drag me down when there's nothing left to hang onto to?" He choked on his tears slightly. "Enjoy your new love interest." And with that, he took off into the forest as fast as he could, not daring to look back.

"Knux, wait!" Sonic called. He sprinted off after his friend without a second thought.

Rachel picked up the ring with shaking hands. Her teardrops dripped onto the gold, her reflection becoming distorted. She let out a small cry of anguish before running deep into the opposite side of the forest as Knuckles. Lien-Da watched her leave, the clearing now eerily quiet. She felt the awkwardness of the epidemic. She sighed at the mess that had just occurred and unconsciously pulled on her whip slightly. Then, in sheer horror, she realized that Finitevus was no longer tied on the other end. She looked around wildly, but soon knew that he had taken off. She groaned in frustration and threw the lash to the ground.

_That jester must've slipped away in all of the confusion, _she thought angrily. She picked her weapon up hastily and quietly scanned the area. But she foolishly never checked behind her. Finitevus sprang up from the bushes and kicked her in the head from behind. She grunted and fell forward, almost instantaneously passing out. She was barely able to watch him run off in the same direction as Rachel.

Chapter Twenty-Nine:

Knuckles kept on running, not caring where he ended up. His senses were blurred to the point of nonexistence. Someone was calling out to him, but he had no idea who. His mind just kept telling him one thing. _Run, run, run, run… _He stumbled slightly on a hidden vine, but he simply recovered and kept going. Nothing was right anymore. The spot where his ring used to be had gone stone cold. He found himself getting closer and closer to the place where he had started off.

_Run, run, run, run… _His body was systematically navigating its way through the thick woodland. Nothing mattered anymore. Everything had been taken from him, all from the same man. His father, his ancestors, his child, the love of his life… There was nothing… He had nothing… His life had suddenly gone in a vicious circle. He was forever alone, just like when he had originally listened to his dad, and it was all because of that accursed albino echidna.

_Run, run, run, run… _He had to go home. He had to go back to the island. He had to end it where it began. There was no reason to feel such terrible pain. He could easily expel it all. He was in control of his life. He was the one who had kept himself alive this whole time… It would only be appropriate for him to be the one to end it. His new thoughts propelled him forward, his rhythm gradually speeding up. All he had to do was go home. Then, he could finally rest in peace, all by himself, with no one there to watch, no one there to stop him…

That voice was calling him again. Whether it was farther or closer, he couldn't tell. And he still didn't know who it was. In the middle of his surge forward, he felt a strong pair of hands grab his shoulders. His automatic pulse was abruptly interrupted as he was yanked back closer to the person who had called for him. When he reached the destination, he had somewhat snapped back to his senses, but only enough to have a small idea of what was going on. He didn't even have to look back to know that the firm grasp belonged to the werehog. He didn't know why, but something about the knowing that Sonic was there made him feel better. Perhaps because he knew he wasn't alone.

He realized that he was still holding his left glove firmly in his right hand. His body was trembling terribly, tears continuously pouring out of his purple eyes. His body was tiredly lying on the ground in front of Sonic as the werehog kneeled down behind him. Knuckles was letting out whimpers of grief as he breathed heavily, his throat trying to choke back the sounds. Sonic kept his grip firm, knowing that Knuckles may have tried to run off again. But Knuckles had no intention of going anywhere.

"I-I don't wanna live anymore!" he cried, "I-I don't have anything to live for!"

"Knux, listen to me. You still have stuff to live for! Think about your family! Think about your step-dad, mom, and step-brother. How would they feel if you jumped off the edge of Angel Island and ended your own life?" Sonic said gently.

Knuckles shook his head. "N-no… They wouldn't care…"

"Knux, you know that's not true…"

"Yes it is! I-I was the one that ruined their lives! I-I lost dad! I lost my kid! And I-I… I lost Rachel!" He choked for a moment. "He took them from me! H-he took all of them away from me! He ruined my life! I-I'm better off alone! I'm better off dead!"

"Knuckles…" Sonic had never seen him break down this much… Being betrayed in one of the worst ways possible was probably making him finally give. All of the things that had ever been on his mind were finally pouring out. His thick walls were tumbling to the ground. His usual stubborn and thick-headed demeanor was now vulnerable and exposed. Sonic didn't move he didn't speak for a while either. He just kept his hands gripped onto the marsupial's shoulders, letting him cry it out and try to gain a little bit of composure.

After almost a half an hour, Knuckles took a few deep breaths, the last of his tears running down his face. He sniffled as he wiped them away, his right hand still firmly holding his other glove. He looked back slightly and looked up into Sonic's eyes.

"Th-thanks…" he said sincerely.

Sonic smiled. "No problem. You know I would never leave you alone in situations like this. You ok now?"

"Y-yeah… I think so… I think that was just a long overdue breakdown… I was putting it off way too long, and then that whole thing that happened back there just pushed me over the edge."

Sonic carefully stood up, setting Knuckles up on his feet. The Guardian only wobbled slightly, but was quickly able to stand up straight. He turned around and started walking alongside his best friend.

"So, what are you going to do now… With the whole, you know, Rachel-thing?"

Knuckles sighed. "I think Rachel and I need some time apart. We both need to think things over. But could you do one thing for me until we both gather up our thoughts?"

"Sure."

"Could you keep an eye on her? I mean, you know, make sure that Finitevus doesn't get his hands on her again. Who knows what would happen if he had her for too long…"

"Yeah. Sure thing. Oh, and by the way, I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for what I did the last time I saw you… You know, yelling that I hated you and stuff…"

Knuckles smiled weakly. "Don't sweat it. I kind of deserved it anyways. I never should've sent Rachel to you with no explanation, and especially while she's pregnant."

"Oh, and I never really congratulated you guys on your marriage." He looked away slightly. "Although, I guess it's a bit too late now."

Knuckles' slight smile disappeared. "Yeah… The whole thing was Rachel's idea. I didn't really didn't want to get married, since mom and dad got divorced. But you know Rachel. I couldn't say no. But now I'm kind of regretting it." He let out a deep sigh and looked up at the bright moon. "But I'll worry about that later. Right now, I just need to think about how to deal with the current predicament."

Sonic simply nodded in response.

"Oh, and one more thing. If I leave you alone for a little while, you'd better not actually jump off of the island."

Knuckles laughed softly. They continued to walk for a while in silence.

Chapter Thirty:

Rachel knelt in front of a large oak tree, Knuckles' ring clutched in the palm of her left hand. She had both hands together in a kind of prayer position. She had them close to her face, her cheeks damp with the stream of water that was constantly coming from her eyes.

"Knuckles…" she whimpered, "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"

She didn't know how, but she had messed it all up. No matter how many times she persisted to herself that it wasn't her fault, she knew that somehow it was. Knuckles knew it, Sonic knew it… It was all her fault. She heard a soft rustling of grass behind her, a signal that that someone was coming. She didn't turn around though.

"You seem troubled…"

Rachel turned around and saw Finitevus standing only a small distance behind her. She sniffled softly and looked down at the ground disappointingly. "Oh… Hi Finitevus." She still had no clue about what had happened while she was sick again for a short while. All she remembered was being grateful that he had saved her life. To her, he had done nothing to her, even though there were accusations against them both for kissing each other intensely.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh… Yeah, there is… I mean, I guess you could say that that whole ordeal that just happened is troubling me a little…" She didn't know why she was being so friendly to him. Maybe because he was the only one who seemed to be willing to talk to her at the time.

"Ah, yes, this quandary you seem to be going through… Perhaps I could be of assistance."

He walked closer to her and stood by her side. Rachel didn't mind it in the least bit. She was fine with any kind of support, no matter who it was coming from.

"Well, I guess I'm just kind of uncertain with myself. I don't even remember the thing that they're accusing me of… I'm not entirely sure that it happened. What I'm trying to get at here is…" She looked over at Finitevus, "Did it really happen?"

Finitevus was staring thoughtfully up at the tree. He took a minute before responding.

"I believe the answer you seek isn't whether or not it occurred, but whether or not you can recuperate from it. The event itself is irrelevant. What matters most is the lasting impact of an occurrence of such magnitude."

Rachel looked at her fists, which still held the ring. She dropped them down on her thighs and rested back on her legs.

"You're right. I have to worry about healing the wound I created. But I can't really find closure in a dodgy answer…" She looked at him inquiringly, "So, I'll ask again, did it happen or not? Did you and I… you know… make out?"

Finitevus took another minute. "If it is your true desire to know…" He looked into her eyes, "Then yes. The event your friend spoke of transpired."

Rachel looked at the tree. She didn't say anything. She didn't really feel angry either. She didn't really feel much of anything. After not speaking for a while, Rachel decided to break the silence.

"Finitevus… Will you… Will you stay with me? I mean, just until I can figure this out, then I'll leave you alone. But right now, I don't really have anyone. So, I'm just asking of you to please stay with me, if it's not too much trouble."

She didn't even know why she was asking it of him. Maybe because she didn't want to be alone. Not with a baby only a month or less away from being born. Not when she could get sick again. She looked at him pleadingly.

He merely turned to her and nodded in response. She smiled slightly but kindly at him.

"Thank you." She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, her head resting on his chest. Her eyes closed as he did the same in return. He softly caressed her back. After a few minutes, his right index finger trailed up to the tip of her chin and tilted it up towards him. Their faces close, Rachel looked into his eyes. After only a second, they both closed their eyes again as Finitevus slowly broke the small space between their lips. Rachel let go of everything she was worried about. She found herself lost in the kiss. Those few blissful moments were all she ever needed.

But then, out of nowhere, it all came back to her. The attraction, the thoughts, the warm aura… All of it wasn't her own. When she had felt so attracted to him after she got sick, those weren't her feelings. When she thought nothing but good and loving things about him, those weren't her thoughts. When she had flirted with him through words, those weren't her words. The whole thing had happened, but it wasn't of her own doing. She, Rachel, hadn't done any of those things.

She opened her eyes and shoved him away from her, the kiss gruffly ending. She stood up and walked away from him, her eyes giving him a cold glare, Knuckles' ring feeling hot in her fist.

"You…" she muttered, "You deceiver… I don't know how you did it, but you did. You tapped into the Chaos Force… You brought the Chaos Angel out… You made it attracted to you and your chaos energy. You made Knuckles think that I cheated on him with his worst enemy. And just now, you tried to pull it out again. You knew I was weak, so you took advantage of me and tried to bring it out of me."

Finitevus let out a sneer. "As I've told you many times, you are an incredibly intelligent girl. I knew you would fit the pieces together, but to do so such at such a rapid rate is beyond many peoples' brain capacity. This is why we were meant to meet each other. Two minds put together that are far more capable of ruling the planet than any of those foolish governments combined." He offered his hand to her. "Come, my dear, take my hand. I shall keep my word to you and stay by your side. Come with me and help this world be reborn into something far more glorious."

Rachel only scowled at him. "You're sick."

His smile grew wider. "Think what you may, but you know my logic is correct. There is no one else to help you now. You will be all alone, forced to raise a child as a single mother, and the risks of birth defects being high for a girl your age, especially with that vulgar ailment you still carry inside you. I am all you have left. It appears you have no choice if you wish for you and your child to live."

Rachel stared at his still outreached hand. He was right… Dang it, he was right… He was too right… Why did he have to be so snarky yet correct all the time? Not knowing what else to do, she cautiously took his hand.

**Just a tiny little side note, I was listening to "Nothing" by the Script when I wrote these chapters, so, yeah. There's my inspiration for this chapter.**


	11. Chapter 31, 32 and 33

Chapter Thirty-One:

Knuckles walked through the dense forest and reached the clearing again. He had definitely calmed down, but was all by himself. He slipped his left glove on again. Sonic had gone off in search of Rachel in order to protect her from Finitevus.

The troubled Guardian's thoughts were stopped when he heard a soft groan nearby. He glanced over and saw Lien-Da struggling to get up. He ran over to her side and held her arm to help her up. She grudgingly shook him off and huffed at him.

"I don't need your help," she snapped. She rose to her feet and dusted herself off briefly.

"You're welcome," Knuckles replied under his breath. She picked up her whip again and started storming off.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Knuckles yelled.

"I'm going to rip that albino's head off!" she replied, her teeth clenched.

"Ok, I get it, you want revenge, but do you really think that doing that right now is the best thing?"

"Uh, yeah! He escaped from me and kicked me from behind, the punk."

"Really? Where did he go?" Knuckles asked frantically.

"Where do you think? The way I'm going of course! Why, do you want to tag along?"

Knuckles nodded. Even though there were complications in his relationship with Rachel, he had couldn't let Finitevus take her. Despite what he had said about Rachel being with Finitevus if she wanted to, and despite having Sonic going off to look after her, he still had to make sure she was ok with his own eyes. He stayed close behind Lien-Da, determined to find Rachel before it was too late.

Sonic was walking cautiously through the forest, desperate to find Rachel. After a few minutes, he finally started to hear voices. He crouched low among the bushes and listened intently. He could hear Finitevus speaking.

"Think what you may, but you know my logic is correct. There is no one else to help you now. You will be all alone, forced to raise a child as a single mother, and the risks of birth defects being high for a girl your age, especially with that vulgar ailment you still carry inside you. I am all you have left. It appears you have no choice if you wish for you and your child to live."

Sonic looked at Rachel intently. She was staring at his outreached hand.

_Come on, Rachel, don't do it, don't do it… _But he was forced to watch in horror as she slowly took his hand. The evil scientist was clearly satisfied with his efforts. He opened up a warp ring behind himself. He turned and started to walk into it, Rachel's hand firmly in his.

"Rachel, no, don't!" Sonic lunged forward, desperate to stop her before she made a huge mistake. But she didn't even hesitate as she disappeared into the ring.

Thirty-Two:

Lien-Da and Knuckles were searching through the forest for what felt like hours. They combed every nook and cranny, but they couldn't find any sign of Finitevus or Rachel.

"Dang it, where are they?" Lien-Da asked in frustration.

"He probably got away with her in one of his warp rings," Knuckles replied.

The Komissar groaned. "Great. Just great. How are we supposed to find them then?"

"I don't know…" Knuckles felt at a total loss. She was right. If they had gone through a warp ring, which they most likely had, then they could be anywhere.

_Unless Sonic managed to see where they were going. _He prayed that that was the case. But his prayers weren't answered when Sonic came running up to them.

"Knux!"

"Sonic! Have you seen Rachel?"

"Yeah, but I've got bad news. She's with Finitevus. I'm sorry Knux. I couldn't stop her."

Knuckles frowned. He nodded slightly. He knew it was his fault. He had left her alone… He had made it clear that he didn't want to see her anymore. She had no one else to turn to…

He sighed, knowing that standing there moping about it wouldn't save her. He had to start looking for her.

"All right, let's head back to the Dark Legion base. Finitevus will probably be there since that's where his new lab is."

"Makes sense," Lien-Da said, "Let's go."

She started to walk off into the forest again. "Move furball!" she yelled, pushing Sonic aside. He looked at her with wide eyes as she marched determinedly ahead. Sonic gave Knuckles a questioning look. He shrugged in response.

"Hey, at least she's not screaming and running away from you."

"Good point." They decided to follow her a little distance behind.

After a few minutes, Knuckles grew impatient.

"Could you move faster? I don't know about you, but I'm in a hurry here!"

"Don't give me your attitude! I'm going as fast as I can! It's hard to move in all of these overgrown plants!"

"Oh, well sorry. I'll be sure to mow your lawn for you when you get back."

"Listen, you-…" She was cut short when she took a quick gasp as she tripped over something. She fell flat on her face with a loud _THUD! _Sonic and Knuckles laughed. She growled at them.

"Shut up…"

Knuckles looked down and noticed what she had tripped over. A cardboard box laid buried beneath the dirt. He used his spikes to dig the box up completely. Sonic and Lien-Da just watched with curiosity. Knuckles carefully began to open the flaps.

When he looked inside, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Dmitri?"

The robot echidna head opened its eyes only halfway. He coughed in pain. "Please… Help me…" he begged weakly.

Lien-Da moved closer to peer inside the box as well. "Grandfather?"

Dmitri slowly turned towards her. "Granddaughter… Please, help me… Help me before it's too late."

Sonic looked at him curiously. "What happened to him?"

"Finitevus got rid of him, that's what happened," Knuckles replied.

"Finitevus? Wait, Dmitri was working with Finitevus again?"

"Yep. Although I don't really know why he got rid of him."

"Grandfather? You worked with Dmitiri!?" Lien-Da yelled angrily.

Dmitri coughed again, wheezing. "Yes… But I will explain later… Just please… Help me…"

She huffed. "And why should I help you? So you can become Grandmaster again?"

Knuckles glared at her. "Can't you put power aside for a little while? He seriously needs help!"

She sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

Knuckles picked up the box. "All right then. Off to the Dark Legion base."

Sonic nodded. Lien-Da crossed her arms. Without another word, they started off through the woods again.

Chapter Thirty-Three:

For the next week, Rachel was stuck with Finitevus in his Downunda laboratory. He ran several tests on her, claiming that he was searching for a cure to her disease. But she knew he was testing for something else. He was looking to see if his plan was working. She was sitting inside of a tiny room to herself. Although, Finitevus often visited her to try and flirt with her to pull the Chaos Angel out. But she had already learned about his tricks. His affection towards her only made her disgusted. She hugged herself, scared of what was to come. There would be more tests… There would be more seductions… There would be more fear…

A tear rolled down her cheek. She wanted more than anything to explain to Knuckles why she had made out with Finitevus. Now that she understood, she wanted everything to get back to normal. She had to explain.

"Knuckles… Please, get me out of here…" she whimpered. She regretted ever begging Finitevus to stay with her. Once he cured her, she would get out of there. She would maybe kill him before she left… That would make sure that her Knuckles would never have to see him again. He would never bother them again. They could raise their children in peace. All she had to do was end his life.

She wanted to use her chaos energy, but she knew it was no use. She didn't have enough of it anymore. Even if she did, Finitevus had so much more time and experience with his chaos energy. That was why he could take control of her so easily. She looked around the room, suddenly desperate to find anything that could at least help her defend herself. She suddenly saw a syringe that he had left behind on accident. She could hear footsteps approaching the door. She quickly snatched it up and hid it behind her back. The door slowly slid open. Finitevus' body appeared in the doorway. A wicked smile spread across his lips.

"Hello, my dear." He walked closer to her. She glared at him.

"I told you, don't call me that."

But he paid no attention to it. He sat down on the bed beside her, his thigh touching hers. She cringed, completely hiding the syringe in her sweating palms. He touched a hand lightly on her leg.

"That so-called husband of yours does not truly admire your beauty… It is such a shame that you refuse to submit to my affections… Perhaps now I can persuade you…"

His hand trailed all the way up her leg and under her dress. His lips lightly pressed against her neck. Fear took over her for a split second. She was afraid that he would actually succeed in pulling out the Chaos Angel. But fury quickly filled her body. She abruptly shoved him away from her as hard as she could.

"Don't you dare touch me," she threatened. Her eyes glowed with pure hatred. Love was the last thing crossing her mind. Her fists shook, the syringe welding into her fingers.

Finitevus' smile only broadened. "Ah, such a stubborn girl. Why is it that you insist on turning me away? You know that I am all you have left."

"Because you're not my husband."

He laughed sardonically. "Yes, that is true. But your real husband seems not to care about you. He thinks that you are infatuated with me, remember?"

Her eyes filled with sorrow. He was right. Knuckles still didn't know that what happened wasn't of her own free will. She had to tell him. But she needed the cure first.

"All right, I'll admit it. You're right. You're all I have left. But that doesn't mean I have to love you. Now, where's the cure?"

"Fair enough. If you do not wish to express desire towards me, that is your own choice." He pulled out a different syringe. "Here it is. The cure to your disease, as I promised."

Rachel swiftly reached forward to snatch it from his hands, but he pulled away too fast.

"Uh uh, eager child. First, I wish for something in return."

She glared at him again. "What do you want?"

He stared into her eyes. She shivered as his stare seemed to penetrate her soul.

"I think you know what I want."

In a flash, he had Rachel pinned onto the bed. She gasped in shock. She was careful not to poke herself on accident. She knew what he wanted, but she knew she couldn't let him.

"I said, don't touch me!" She kneed him in the stomach then quickly punctured the syringe in his side, causing him to fall off of the bed in pain. She sprung up and grabbed the syringe he had dropped. He groaned in pain, holding his side as it bled. Rachel slipped a warp ring off of his leg and quickly opened it. She only hesitated for a moment before disappearing.

~Hey guys! Sorry, just a little side note. I probably won't be updating any of my storied for a little while. I know I've been barraging you with new ones, but I wanted you guys to read them and see if you liked them. I kind of wanted to test out my first-person abilities in writing. So please read all of them and tell me which one you want me to work on once I finish this book! FYI, I think there will be one more chunk of this book, and then it will be done.

Anyways, like I said, probably won't update much after this. I have some personal issues going on right now, so I'm not really motivated to write. But I promise you I will as soon as I get the enthusiasm! Thanks for understanding! ~SonicKnuxMiku


	12. Chapter 34, 35 and Epilogue

Thirty-Four:

At the Dark Legion base, Lien-Da grudgingly hooked Dmitri up to one of the back-up lifelines. Sonic decided to head out to try and look for Rachel. Knuckles decided to stay instead of going along. He knew that if they did find Rachel, he wouldn't want to face her. He was still upset over the whole ordeal. He knew that confronting her now would do neither of them any good.

The whole time, Lien-Da just huffed and stomped around knowing that her rule as Grandmaster was going to diminish once Dmitri was back to full health. She glared at the soldiers as they stared at her, waiting for orders.

"What are you looking at!?" she yelled.

They all scrambled back to their stations, although uncertain of what they should do. Knuckles decided that there was nothing left for him to really do. Dmitri was recuperating from his certain death, Lien-Da was in an ill mood, and Sonic had gone out to hopefully rescue Rachel.

The Guardian stood outside, leaning against the building. He looked up at the sky thoughtfully. He wondered what Rachel was doing... Was she enjoying her time with Finitevus? Maybe she did actually love him… Or was she trying to fight him off? Maybe she really didn't remember what had happened… If so, then why did it happen?

He sighed, knowing that just thinking wouldn't help. But he felt no desire to go and look for Rachel. So he stayed put, counting the clouds as they drifted by.

Rachel coughed as she lied on the grass. She stuck the syringe in her arm, quickly injecting the cure into her bloodstream. She felt the intense medication quickly taking effect. She let out a deep sigh of relief. She staggered to her feet, her head spinning slightly.

_I have to go tell Knuckles… I have to go tell him everything…_ Rachel searched her mind for that connection she was so used to. Once she found the spark, she ran off into the forest, tears running down her cheeks.

Knuckles heard loud breathing and panicked footsteps coming towards the clearing. He looked up in alarm, only to find his lost wife emerging from the thick woodland. She saw him and gasped slightly, her lip trembling. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Knuckles…" she whimpered. She shut her eyes and started running again until she fell right into his arms. He hugged her close, his eyes open in shock.

"Rachel, what happened? How did you get away from him? How did you find me?"

She choked slightly, her voice shaking. "I-I'm so sorry Knuckles… I'm sorry for all of it… It wasn't my fault… It was his… He pulled the Chaos Angel out and made her do it… It wasn't me… That's why I didn't remember… P-Please believe me!"

Knuckled kept his eyes open, suddenly understanding. He hugged her tighter. "It's ok Rachel… I understand it all now… There's no need to cry…"

She let out another whimper. "H-He tried to… He tried to get me in bed with him… He almost pulled her out again… He almost had me locked out of my mind again… He almost…" She choked again, unable to finish.

"Shh, it's ok Rachel… I know, I know… It's ok now… Everything will be ok now… I promise." He held her up against him, letting her cry as long as she needed to.

Chapter Thirty-Five:

Knuckles took Rachel home, not really caring what happened to the Dark Legion anymore. He had Rachel back, and the soldiers were in no condition to fight. He had no idea how he was supposed to tell Sonic to call off the search, so he decided to tell him the next time he saw him.

Luckily, that only took a few days. Sonic had come back to tell him that he hadn't found Rachel when he was surprised to see that Rachel was already safe and sound.

For the next few weeks, Rachel explained the whole story to Knuckles, starting from when she was teleported off with Finitevus after she had gotten sick. Knuckles was open-minded about it and quickly forgave her, knowing that the whole thing wasn't her fault. The couple went back to normal, settling down for the time being, no longer caring about anything but each other.

After about two weeks, in the middle of a normal day, Rachel was sitting on the couch, Knuckles hugging her close as he sat beside her. He stroked her head lightly.

"Do you want anything?" he asked.

"Um… I'm kind of thirsty…"

"Ok, I'll be back in a sec." He slowly rose to his feet. Rachel watched him walk into the kitchen.

Then, out of nowhere, a sharp pain rose in her stomach. She held her stomach in pain, cringing.

Knuckles looked at her curiously. "Rachel? Is something wrong?"

She started taking deep breaths. "I don't know… My stomach hurts really bad…"

He ran to her side. "Really?"

She shut her eyes as tight as she could, the pain growing. "Yeah… It really hurts…"

"Ok, just keep taking deep breaths… Wait, how far into the pregnancy are you?"

"I don't know… Almost 9 months now…"

"Oh my gosh…" Knuckles gasped. It was happening… After nine hectic months, it was finally happening…

"Rachel… You have to know what this means."

She looked up at him in shock. "Wait… You don't mean…"

He nodded.

Rachel's eyes widened. "Now!? I mean, I know it's pretty close, but, why now!? You can't be serious… NOW!?"

"What else could it be? There's no other explanation! It's coming!"

"B-But… Now!? Why does it have to come now!? Oh God…" She started hyperventilating. "I don't want it to come now…"

Knuckles held her hand. "Rachel, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to have this baby!"

"I do! It's just…" Her voice trailed off. She looked away from him, tears starting to form.

"Come on Rachel, tell me. Why don't you want it to come now?"

"B-Because… Because…" She whimpered, covering her face with her other hand. "Knuckles… I'm scared… I'm scared of giving birth… What if something happens to me or the baby? What if I don't get through it? What will I do? Oh Knuckles…"

He kneeled in front of her and put both hands on her face. "Rachel, listen to me. It's going to be ok. Remember what I told you at our wedding? I will always protect you, no matter what." He took off his glove and showed her his ring, which he had put on after him and Rachel made up. She opened her eyes and sniffled as she looked at her reflection in the glistening gold.

"I love you Rachel. If anything goes wrong, and for whatever reason the baby doesn't make it, then I won't love you any less. If anything happens to you, I'll stay by your side and make sure that you get through it. No matter what happens, I'll never leave your side ever again. I promise."

Rachel looked into his sincere eyes. "Knuckles…" He stood up and hugged her. She hugged him back. "I love you too."

After a few minutes, the contraction came back again in full swing. Rachel let out a yell of pain. Knuckles looked at her with worry.

"Rachel!?"

"Knuckles, we have to go to the hospital… It's coming…"

Knuckles nodded as she held onto him as tight as she could. "Hang in there. I don't know if this will affect anything, but I don't have any other option." He concentrated as hard as he could and teleported them away.

After almost a half hour of deep breathing, panic, and screaming, Rachel finally finished giving birth to two cute little babies.

The oldest one (by 4 minutes) was an echidna boy. (Knuckles: Wait a sec… echidnas are born from eggs. How is that even possible? SonicKnuxMiku: Don't question it!) The doctors found out that he was born with asthma, a birth effect from the disease Finitevus had given Rachel. His green eyes matched Rachel's almost perfectly.

The youngest of the twins was a human girl. She didn't have any birth effects, but she had Rachel's brown hair and Knuckles' amethyst eyes.

Although happy about having two beautiful new children, there was one thing troubling Knuckles. Rachel had passed out into a coma after giving birth to the second baby. The doctors said that it was nothing to worry too much about. After all, she was only 13, so the energy required to give birth for a girl her age almost definitely caused it. But Knuckles still worried. While the nurses went off to clean off the babies, Knuckles stayed by Rachel's bedside, refusing to leave her side. She hadn't even gotten a chance to see their new kids…

For hours, she stayed in her coma. Knuckles really began worrying then, constantly asking the doctors and nurses to check her condition. As he paced back and forth for the umpteenth time, Rachel finally let out a slight groan. Knuckles rushed to her side, holding her hand eagerly.

"Rachel?"

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. She smiled weakly. "Is the baby ok?"

He laughed with relief. "You mean _babies_. But yeah, they're all right."

She smiled a little wider. "Really? Twins? I was so out of it… I couldn't really tell. Well, I guess that'll be a little bit more to handle than I thought. Oh well. But I guess I should've asked you how you were doing, sweaty boy."

He blushed slightly. "Hey, cut me some slack. First I was trying to make sure that one baby was fine, then the next thing you know, another baby's coming, and then you're out cold."

"Yeah, I guess that's a good reason. Now, where are the new additions to the world?"

Knuckles briefly left and came back with the new babies in each arm. Rachel carefully sat up and held the echidna boy. He giggled and smiled up at her, his legs kicking from underneath the small blue blanket he was snuggly wrapped in. She smiled back at him, her eyes flooding.

"Knuckles… They're beautiful…"

He nodded. "Yeah…"

"But what should we name them?"

Knuckles looked up at the ceiling in thought. "I don't know…"

Rachel stared at her son as he wriggled in her arms. "How about Locke?"

Knuckles looked at her in shock. "Rachel…"

She smiled at him. "Do you like it?"

He nodded. "It's perfect."

"Well, looks like we decided the little Guardian's name. So, what about that pretty girl?"

Knuckles looked down at her. "Well, how about Sonia?"

This time, Rachel was the one that looked up in shock. "You mean…?"

Knuckles nodded. "Yep. I mean, Sonic wouldn't fit for a girl's name, right?"

Rachel laughed. "Yeah, you're right. So, Locke and Sonia it is."

They both held each baby more times than they could count. They both couldn't stop staring at their new kids. After an hour, Rachel felt tired again, so Knuckles put the babies back in the nursery and let Rachel fall back to sleep.

After another few hours, she drowsily woke up, stretching out her arms. She looked down at her stomach, which obviously still had a baby bump on it. She groaned.

"Knux, can your chaos powers get rid of this?"

He laughed. "I don't know. Let's try." He rubbed his hands together and put them on her stomach, concentrating as hard as he could. In a flash, Rachel was back to the size that she was before she was pregnant. She sighed.

"That's a relief."

He laughed. She slowly rose to her feet, Knuckles assisting her. "I wanna go see them," she briefly explained. Knuckles smiled and nodded, leading the way.

But when they got to the nursery, they didn't find what they were hoping for. Rachel let out a cry of horror, putting both hands over her mouth. Knuckles clenched his teeth, his hands balling into fists.

There, standing in the middle of the room, Finitevus was holding their babies in his arms. He was holding one in each arm as they slept peacefully. He looked up into the faces of their horrified parents. He grinned sardonically.

"Hello, Knuckles." He looked at Rachel. "Chaos Angel."

Rachel took a step forward. "Please… Don't hurt them."

"You honestly believed I was that cruel as to harm two innocent children that were born only hours ago. Tut-tut…"

"Finitevus, put them down!" Knuckles yelled angrily.

"And why should I? These two younglings are the key to the new era. Why would I give them up now?"

"Fintievus, please…" Rachel took a few more steps forwards, her voice soft and pleading, "I'll do whatever you want. Just please, don't hurt them."

His eyes focused on her. "Anything I want?"

She nodded. "Anything. No tricks this time."

Finitevus examined her a moment. "All right then. Come here, then."

As he put the kids back in the cribs, Rachel started walking towards him. Knuckles grabbed her arm.

"Rachel, wait!" He pulled her back. "What are you doing? Why are you going with that psycho?"

She put a hand on his face. "Knux, listen to me. We have no choice. He'll hurt them if I don't do what he wants."

"No! There has to be another way!"

"Knuckles…"

"I won't let you go anywhere with him again, and I sure as heck won't leave you ever again! Do you remember my promise?"

"Of course I do. But Knuckles… You have to protect our kids. They come first." She kissed him, water streaming out of both of their eyes. She gave him a weak smile.

"No matter what, just remember that I will always love you."

She slipped her hand off of his cheek. He watched in pain as she walked all the way to Finitevus. She turned and smiled at him as best she could.

_It'll be ok, _she told him. He choked slightly. Finitevus smiled deviously and wrapped an arm around her and pulled her away into an open warp ring.

Epilogue:

Before Rachel knew what was happening, she was gone, her thoughts no longer her own, her actions no longer in her control. Instead, the Chaos Angel took her place. She smiled at her summoner.

"Finitevus…" she said lovingly. He smiled back at her. She could feel her old ring slipping off of her finger, and looked down to see a new one sliding into its place. It had a dark diamond on it that still made her reflection sparkle. Finitevus took his cape, spectacles and belt off, and then started slipping her dress off as well. After it fell to the floor, she wrapped her arms around him as he carried her to the bed. He laid her down and soon began kissing her neck. She sighed pleasurably.

"Oh Finitevus…" As the two interlocked lips, a fire grew inside of the Chaos Angel. The fire churned and grew hotter and hotter as the action grew more intense. She let it all consume her, leaving all her memories of Sonic, Knuckles, and her twin children to the ashes.

Sonic: Whoa! Talk about drama!

SonicKnuxMiku: It's a good cliffhanger, right? :D

Sonic: Won't the people reading this story get mad at you for this?

SKM: Oh well… It'll make them want to read the next book.

Knuckles: Geez, how many books of this are you making?

SKM: *shrugs* I don't know. The next one might be the last. But who knows.

Finitevus: Ah, so this is where your stories are written… How convenient that it also happens to be your bedroom…

Knux: O_o Um….

Sonic: Ok, who let the creeper in here?

SKM: Do I have to beat you with a lacrosse stick again!?

Finitevus: *shivers slightly* No, I don't believe so…

SKM: Oh, before I forget, do you want to be in the next book Sonic?

Sonic: *shrugs* I don't know. Maybe just a smidge. But I think that Knuckles should take up most of the story.

Knux: I'd hope I make up most of the story! Heck, I just lost my wife to an insane pervert!

Finitevus: *smiles lustfully* Ah, yes… Pleasant times…

Knux: WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?

SKM: Ok guys, cool it. I still have more to say.

Finitevus: All right then… But please make it swift. I believe I have to go back to sleeping with the Guardian's wife.

Knux: Ok, that does it! *tackles Finitevus to the ground*

SKM: Gentlemen, at ease, at ease!

Sonic: *sighs* Whatever… Just say whatever you have to say. You'll never break those two apart.

SKM: You're right… Ok, here it is. I just wanted to thank you guys who are or have been reading any or all of my stories! Yes, I know, huge cliffhanger, but I won't get to the fifth book for awhile. I'm planning on working on Sweetly Dark Love and Last Chance Cling more and finishing them first. After that, then I will definitely get back to this, I promise! Oh, and I'm considering writing another book around the same time as the fifth book of this series that features Locke in it. (Locke as in Knuckles' dad, not his son.) Anyways, see ya later!

END OF BOOK 4!


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